Managing regionalized vehicular communication

ABSTRACT

A method determines a topology modification for a geographical area; determines a set of coverage region(s) in the geographical area that are adjacent to a target coverage region, the target coverage region being associated with a first regionalized server configured to communicate with vehicular traffic in the target coverage region, the set of coverage region(s) being respectively associated with a set of second regionalized server(s), each second regionalized server being configured to communicate with vehicular traffic in a corresponding coverage region of the set of coverage region(s); determines that a region count of the set of coverage region(s) satisfies a region count threshold; responsive to determining that the region count of the set of coverage region(s) satisfies the region count threshold, determines a morphing portion for each coverage region in the set of coverage region(s); and morphs the set of coverage region(s) based on the corresponding morphing portions.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to server management. In a moreparticular example, the disclosure relates managing regionalizedvehicular communication.

Today, some modern computing systems rely on servers to provide vehicleapplications to vehicles. However, in these computing systems, the areascovered by the servers usually cannot be adjusted while the trafficcondition in these areas often drastically change over time. As aresult, a server assigned to a particular area may not have sufficientcomputational resources to provide the vehicle applications to a largenumber of vehicles located within its coverage area in heavy trafficcondition.

On the other hand, the computational resources of the server may not beefficiently utilized when the traffic in the area covered is low. Inaddition, as the area of the server is generally fixed, the datareceived from the vehicles located within the area of the area may beirrelevant or inadequate for the vehicle applications implemented on theserver to accurately operate given the specific traffic condition.Furthermore, it is generally impractical or impossible for theseexisting solutions to flexibly provide a particular vehicle applicationto the vehicles located within a specific area during a certain timeperiod, because the areas of the servers on which the vehicleapplication can be implemented typically remain unchanged.

SUMMARY

The subject matter described in this disclosure overcomes thedeficiencies and limitations of the existing solutions by providingnovel technology for efficiently managing electronic vehicularcommunication.

According to one innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis disclosure, a computer-implemented method comprises: determining atopology modification for a geographical area; determining a set of oneor more coverage regions in the geographical area that are adjacent to atarget coverage region, the target coverage region being associated witha first regionalized server configured to communicate with vehiculartraffic in the target coverage region, the set of one or more coverageregions being respectively associated with a set of one or more secondregionalized servers, each second regionalized server of the set of oneor more second regionalized servers being configured to communicate withvehicular traffic in a corresponding coverage region of the set of oneor more coverage regions; determining that a region count of the set ofone or more coverage regions satisfies a region count threshold;responsive to determining that the region count of the set of one ormore coverage regions satisfies the region count threshold, determininga morphing portion for each coverage region in the set of one or morecoverage regions; and morphing the set of one or more coverage regionsassociated with the set of one or more second regionalized servers basedon the corresponding morphing portions.

In general, another innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis disclosure may be embodied in computer-implemented methodscomprising: detecting a traffic trigger event associated with ageographical area, the geographical area including a set of one or morecoverage regions that are respectively associated with a set of one ormore regionalized servers; determining a topology modification for thegeographical area based on a traffic condition associated with thetraffic trigger event; modifying a coverage region topology of thegeographical area based on the topology modification by one or more ofcreating an additional coverage region for the geographical area andassociating the additional coverage region with an additionalregionalized server, and morphing one or more coverage regions in theset of one or more coverage regions.

In general, another innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis disclosure may be embodied in systems comprising: one or moreprocessors; and one or more memories storing instructions that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the system to: determine atopology modification for a geographical area; determine a set of one ormore coverage regions in the geographical area that are adjacent to atarget coverage region, the target coverage region being associated witha first regionalized server configured to communicate with vehiculartraffic in the target coverage region, the set of one or more coverageregions being respectively associated with a set of one or more secondregionalized servers, each second regionalized server of the set of oneor more second regionalized servers being configured to communicate withvehicular traffic in a corresponding coverage region of the set of oneor more coverage regions; determine that a region count of the set ofone or more coverage regions satisfies a region count threshold;responsive to determining that the region count of the set of one ormore coverage regions satisfies the region count threshold, determine amorphing portion for each coverage region in the set of one or morecoverage regions; and morph the set of one or more coverage regionsassociated with the set of one or more second regionalized servers basedon the corresponding morphing portions.

These and other implementations may each optionally include one or moreof the following features: that the topology modification of thegeographical area includes a creation of the target coverage region forthe first regionalized server, the first regionalized server beinginitiated, or an expansion of a first coverage region associated withthe first regionalized server to the target coverage region, anddetermining the morphing portion of a coverage region of the set of oneor more coverage regions to include an area where the coverage regionassociated with a second regionalized server overlaps with the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server; that morphing the setof one or more coverage regions associated with the set of one or moresecond regionalized servers includes reducing the coverage regionassociated with the second regionalized server to exclude the morphingportion corresponding to the coverage region, transmitting dataassociated with the morphing portion from the second regionalized serverto the first regionalized server, and instructing a plurality ofvehicles located within the morphing portion to communicate with thefirst regionalized server; that the topology modification of thegeographical area includes an elimination of a first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server, the first regionalizedserver being removed, or a reduction of the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server to the target coverageregion, and determining the set of one or more coverage regions in thegeographical area includes determining a difference region between thefirst coverage region associated with the first regionalized server andthe target coverage region, and determining that a resource amount ofthe set of one or more second regionalized servers satisfies a resourceamount to accommodate a plurality of vehicles located within the set ofone or more coverage regions associated with the set of one or moresecond regionalized servers and the difference region; that determiningthe morphing portion for each coverage region in the set of one or morecoverage regions includes determining, from the difference region, amorphing portion for a coverage region associated with a secondregionalized server based on a resource amount of the secondregionalized server and a traffic condition in the difference region;that morphing the set of one or more coverage regions associated withthe set of one or more second regionalized servers includes expandingthe coverage region associated with the second regionalized server toinclude the morphing portion corresponding to the coverage region,transmitting data associated with the morphing portion from the firstregionalized server to the second regionalized server, and instructing aplurality of vehicles located within the morphing portion to communicatewith the second regionalized server; that determining that the regioncount of the set of one or more coverage regions does not satisfy theregion count threshold, responsive to determining that the region countof the set of one or more coverage regions does not satisfy the regioncount threshold, determining, from the first regionalized server and theset of one or more second regionalized servers, a set of one or morethird regionalized servers based on the topology modification of thegeographical area, determining a set of one or more third coverageregions in the geographical area for the set of one or more thirdregionalized servers, and respectively assigning the set of one or morethird coverage regions to the set of one or more third regionalizedservers; that determining the set of one or more third coverage regionsin the geographical area includes determining a third coverage regionfor a third regionalized server based on a resource amount of the thirdregionalized server and a traffic condition in the third coverageregion; that classifying the first regionalized server and the set ofone or more second regionalized servers into one or more physicalregionalized servers and one or more virtual regionalized servers,initiating one or more temporary virtual regionalized serverscorresponding to the one or more physical regionalized servers,transmitting data associated with each physical regionalized server to atemporary virtual regionalized server corresponding to the physicalregionalized server, and responsive to respectively assigning the set ofone or more third coverage regions to the set of one or more thirdregionalized servers, transmitting, from the one or more virtualregionalized servers and the one or more temporary virtual regionalizedservers, data associated with each third coverage region to a thirdregionalized server associated with the third coverage region; thatresponsive to transmitting the data associated with each third coverageregion to the third regionalized server associated with the thirdcoverage region, instructing a plurality of vehicles located within thethird coverage region associated with the third regionalized server tocommunicate with the third regionalized server, and removing the one ormore temporary virtual regionalized servers; that the topologymodification of the geographical area is associated with a triggerevent, the trigger event including one or more of a change of roadwaycondition, a change of traffic condition, and a change of trafficcondition reflected in a traffic pattern of a road segment in thegeographical area, an implementation of a vehicle application that istemporarily accessible in an application accessible area within thegeographical area, and an unavailability of a regionalized serverassociated with a coverage region in the geographical area; thatdetermining the topology modification for the geographical area includesdetermining a road segment in the geographical area that has a vehicledensity of the road segment satisfying a vehicle density threshold, anddetermining the target coverage region for the first regionalized serverbased on the road segment; that determining the topology modificationfor the geographical area includes determining an application accessiblearea for a vehicle application temporarily implemented on the firstregionalized server, and determining the target coverage region for thefirst regionalized server based on the application accessible area ofthe vehicle application; that determining the topology modification forthe geographical area includes estimating a number of vehicles that areaccommodatable by the first regionalized server based on a resourceamount of the first regionalized server and operation requirements of avehicle application, determining a vehicle density of a road segmentthat includes a first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server, and determining the target coverage region for thefirst regionalized server based on the number of vehicles that areaccommodatable by the first regionalized server and the vehicle densityof the road segment.

These and other implementations may each optionally include one or moreof the following features: that the traffic trigger event includes oneor more of a change of roadway condition, a change of traffic condition,and a change of traffic condition reflected in a traffic pattern of aroad segment in the geographical area, and the traffic conditionassociated with the traffic trigger event includes one or more of avehicle density, a traffic flow rate, an average vehicle speed, anaverage following distance associated with the road segment; thatdetermining the topology modification for the geographical area includesdetermining a target coverage region in the geographical area for afirst regionalized server based on the traffic condition associated withthe traffic trigger event, and modifying the coverage region topology ofthe geographical area based on the topology modification includesmodifying the coverage region topology by one or more of creating thetarget coverage region in the geographical area and associating thetarget coverage region with the first regionalized server, the firstregionalized server being initiated, morphing a first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server into the target coverageregion, and eliminating the first coverage region associated with thefirst regionalized server, the first regionalized server being removed;that determining, from the set of one or more coverage regionsassociated with the set of one or more regionalized servers, a set ofone or more second coverage regions that are adjacent to the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server, the set of one or moresecond coverage regions being respectively associated with a set of oneor more second regionalized servers, and morphing the set of one or moresecond coverage regions associated with the set of one or more secondregionalized servers based on the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server; that determining the target coverage region in thegeographical area for the first regionalized server based on the trafficcondition associated with the traffic trigger event includes one or moreof determining the target coverage region for the first regionalizedserver based on a road segment in the geographical area that has avehicle density of the road segment satisfying a vehicle densitythreshold, and determining the target coverage region for the firstregionalized server based on a number of vehicles that areaccommodatable by the first regionalized server and a vehicle density ofa road segment that includes a first coverage region associated with thefirst regionalized server.

Other implementations of one or more of these and other aspects includecorresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured toperform the actions of methods, encoded on non-transitory computerstorage devices.

The novel technology for managing coverage regions of regionalizedservers presented in this disclosure is particularly advantageous in anumber of respects. For example, the technology described herein iscapable of dynamically morphing or re-establishing the coverage regionsof the regionalized servers based on the traffic condition in thecoverage regions. Thus, as the traffic condition changes over time, thecoverage regions associated with the regionalized servers may bedynamically adjusted and/or redefined so that the regionalized serversmay have sufficient computational resources to provide vehicleapplications to the vehicles located within their corresponding coverageregions. As a result, the efficiency in utilizing the computationalresources of the regionalized servers can be significantly improved. Asa further example, the present technology is capable of morphing orre-establishing the coverage area of the regionalized server based onthe traffic condition so that the data received from multiple vehicleslocated within the coverage region may be relevant and/or adequate tofacilitate the operation of the vehicle applications implemented on theregionalized server, thereby improving the accuracy and efficiency ofthese vehicle applications. In addition, the technology described hereincan morph or re-establish the coverage regions of the regionalizedservers to dynamically and temporarily allocate a specific region to aparticular regionalized server during a certain time period. Therefore,the present technology can flexibly implement one or more vehicleapplications on the particular regionalized server during this timeperiod, and thus these vehicle applications can be provided to thevehicles located within the specific region associated with theparticular regionalized server on a temporary basis as needed.

It should be understood that the foregoing advantages are provided byway of example and that the technology may have numerous otheradvantages and benefits.

The disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not by way oflimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereference numerals are used to refer to similar elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for managing regionalizedvehicular communication.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example region management application.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method for managing the coverageregions of the regionalized servers.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate flowcharts of example methods for morphingthe coverage region of the regionalized server.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example method for re-establishing thecoverage regions of the regionalized servers.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example geographical area.

FIGS. 6B-6D illustrates example coverage regions.

FIGS. 7A-7E illustrate examples of the coverage regions associated withthe regionalized servers being morphed.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate examples of the coverage regions associated withthe regionalized servers being re-established.

DESCRIPTION

The technology described herein can effectively manage electronic datareceived from vehicles in different traffic regions. As described infurther detail below, the technology includes various aspects, such asregion management methods, systems, computing devices, computer programproducts, and apparatuses, among other aspects.

As described in the Background, it is challenging for a central cloudserver to manage data communication for vehicular networks in a largegeographical area. The technology described herein advantageouslyaddresses this issue with a hierarchical server architecture. Thearchitecture may include a central server (which may comprise one ormore centralized or distributed physical and/or virtual server(s)) andregionalized servers. The term central may, in some embodiments, referto server(s) that manages, coordinates and/or instructs other networknodes, such as regionalized server(s), communication-enabled mobilityplatforms, etc., based on rules, logic, data being received, data thatis needed, etc.

A regionalized server may locally serve the vehicles in smaller regionsof the geographical area, thereby improving the vehicle-servercommunication. For example, the regionalized server may provide vehicleapplications to the vehicles located within its corresponding region.However, while a central server often has a massive amount ofcomputational resources (e.g., commensurate with a larger server farm,large data center, etc.) and is generally always available, theregionalized server often has a comparatively limited amount ofcomputational resources and may not always be available. Therefore, inorder to flexibly provide vehicle applications to the vehicles invarious regions of the geographical area, these regions may need to bemanaged to efficiently be served by the regionalized servers or thecentral server.

The technology described herein is advantageously capable of dynamicallychanging the coverage regions covered by the regionalized servers basedon the application requirements the available computational resources ofthe regionalized servers and the central server, the vehicle-serverconnections, etc. The changes in the coverage regions of theregionalized servers may be triggered by the resource availability ofthe regionalized servers, the application requirements of the vehicleapplication, the implementation of new vehicle applications, the trafficdensity, the road conditions, etc.

In some embodiments, a central server may optimize the coverage regionsof the regionalized servers based on their availability and resourcecapacity. The central server may instantiate new virtual regionalizedservers if needed. The central server may then further adjust orredefine the coverage regions of the regionalized servers based onvarious factors, e.g., the traffic history, the road types, the trafficdensity, etc. The new coverage regions being formed may then becommunicated to the regionalized servers and the vehicles to adapt theirserver-vehicle communication accordingly.

An example region management system may determine a topologymodification for a geographical area. The topology modification mayreflect a target coverage region to be covered by a first regionalizedserver. As the target coverage region is covered by a first regionalizedserver, the first regionalized server can communicate with the vehiculartraffic in the target coverage region. In some embodiments, the regionmanagement system may morph a first coverage region associated with thefirst regionalized server into the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server.

In some embodiments, the region management system may determine a set ofsecond coverage regions in the geographical area that are adjacent tothe target coverage region of the first regionalized server. The set ofsecond coverage regions may be respectively associated with a set ofsecond regionalized servers, and thus each second regionalized servermay communicate with the vehicular traffic in its corresponding secondcoverage region. The region management system may determine whether aregion count of the set of second coverage regions satisfies a regioncount threshold. If the region count of the set of second coverageregions satisfies the region count threshold, the region managementsystem may determine a morphing portion for each second coverage regionin the set of second coverage regions, and morph the set of secondcoverage regions associated with the set of second regionalized serversbased on the corresponding morphing portions. If the region count of theset of second coverage regions does not satisfy the region countthreshold, the region management system may determine a set of thirdregionalized servers based on the topology modification of thegeographical area, determine a set of third coverage regions in thegeographical area for the set of third regionalized servers, andrespectively assign the set of third coverage regions to the set ofthird regionalized servers.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system 100 for managing coverageregions of regionalized servers. As shown, the system 100 includes amanagement server 101, one or more vehicle platforms 103 a . . . 103 n,and one or more regionalized servers 107 a . . . 107 n. The managementserver 101, the one or more vehicle platforms 103 a . . . 103 n, and theone or more regionalized servers 107 a . . . 107 n may be coupled forelectronic communication via a network 105. In FIG. 1 and the remainingfigures, a letter after a reference number, e.g., “103 a,” represents areference to the element having that particular reference number. Areference number in the text without a following letter, e.g., “103,”represents a general reference to instances of the element bearing thatreference number. It should be understood that the system 100 depictedin FIG. 1 is provided by way of example and the system 100 and/orfurther systems contemplated by this present disclosure may includeadditional and/or fewer components, may combine components and/or divideone or more of the components into additional components, etc. Forexample, the system 100 may include any number of vehicle platforms 103,regionalized servers 107, networks 105, or management servers 101.

The network 105 may be a conventional type, wired and/or wireless, andmay have numerous different configurations including a starconfiguration, token ring configuration, or other configurations. Forexample, the network 105 may include one or more local area networks(LAN), wide area networks (WAN) (e.g., the Internet), personal areanetworks (PAN), public networks, private networks, virtual networks,virtual private networks, peer-to-peer networks, near-field networks(e.g., Bluetooth®, NFC, etc.), vehicular networks, and/or otherinterconnected data paths across which multiple devices may communicate.

The network 105 may also be coupled to or include portions of atelecommunications network for sending data in a variety of differentcommunication protocols. Example protocols include, but are not limitedto, transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), userdatagram protocol (UDP), transmission control protocol (TCP), hypertexttransfer protocol (HTTP), secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS),dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH), real-time streamingprotocol (RTSP), real-time transport protocol (RTP) and the real-timetransport control protocol (RTCP), voice over Internet protocol (VOIP),file transfer protocol (FTP), WebSocket (WS), wireless access protocol(WAP), various messaging protocols (SMS, MMS, XMS, IMAP, SMTP, POP,WebDAV, etc.), or other suitable protocols. In some embodiments, thenetwork 105 is a wireless network using a connection such as DSRC(Dedicated Short Range Communication), WAVE, 802.11p, a 3G, 4G, 5G+network, WiFi™, satellite networks, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks,vehicle-to-infrastructure/infrastructure-to-vehicle (V2I/I2V) networks,vehicle-to-infrastructure/vehicle-to-everything (V2I/V2X) networks, orany other wireless networks. Although FIG. 1 illustrates a single blockfor the network 105 that couples to the management server 101, thevehicle platform(s) 103, and the regionalized server(s) 107, it shouldbe understood that the network 105 may in practice comprise any numberof combination of networks, as noted above.

The vehicle platform(s) 103 include computing device(s) 152 havingsensor(s) 113, processor(s) 115, memory(ies) 117, communication unit(s)119, a vehicle data store 123, a region management application 120, anda navigation application 122. Examples of computing device(s) 152 mayinclude virtual or physical computer processors, control units,micro-controllers, etc., which are coupled to other components of thevehicle platform(s) 103, such as one or more sensors 113, actuators,motivators, etc. The vehicle platform(s) 103 may be coupled to thenetwork 105 via signal line 156, and may send and receive data to andfrom other vehicle platform(s) 103, the regionalized server(s) 107,and/or the management server(s) 101. In some embodiments, the vehicleplatform(s) 103 may be temporarily coupled to one or more of theregionalized servers 107 as the vehicle platform(s) 103 travel along theroads. For example, the vehicle platform 103 may send and receive datato and from the regionalized server(s) 107 as the vehicle platform 103is located within the coverage region that is managed by theregionalized server(s) 107, and thus the regionalized server(s) 107 mayprovide one or more vehicle applications implemented on the regionalizedserver(s) 107 to the vehicle platform 103. In some embodiments, thevehicle platform(s) 103 are capable of transporting from one point toanother. Non-limiting examples of the vehicle platform(s) 103 include avehicle, an automobile, a bus, a boat, a plane, a bionic implant, arobot, or any other platforms with non-transitory computer electronics(e.g., a processor, a memory or any combination of non-transitorycomputer electronics). The vehicle platform(s) 103 may be referred toherein as vehicle(s).

The processor(s) 115 may execute software instructions (e.g., tasks) byperforming various input/output, logical, and/or mathematicaloperations. The processor(s) 115 may have various computingarchitectures to process data signals. The processor(s) 115 may bephysical and/or virtual, and may include a single core or plurality ofprocessing units and/or cores. In the context of the vehicle platform103, the processor may be an electronic control unit (ECU) implementedin the vehicle platform 103 such as a car, although other types ofplatform are also possible and contemplated. The ECUs may receive andstore the sensor data as vehicle operation data in the vehicle datastore 123 for access and/or retrieval by the region managementapplication 120, the navigation application 122, and/or other vehicleapplications. In some implementations, the processor(s) 115 may becapable of generating and providing electronic display signals to theinput/output device(s), capturing and transmitting images, performingcomplex tasks including various types of data analysis and coverageregion management, etc. In some implementations, the processor(s) 115may be coupled to the memory(ies) 117 via the bus 154 to access data andinstructions therefrom and store data therein. The bus 154 may couplethe processor(s) 115 to the other components of the vehicle platform(s)103 including, for example, the sensor(s) 113, the memory(ies) 117, thecommunication unit(s) 119, and/or the vehicle data store 123.

The region management application 120 is computer logic executable tomanage coverage regions of regionalized servers. As illustrated in FIG.1, the management server 101 may include the instance 120 a, the vehicleplatform 103 a . . . 103 n may include the instances 120 b . . . 120 m,and the regionalized servers 107 a . . . 107 n may include the instances120 c . . . 120 n of the region management application 120. In someembodiments, each instance 120 a, 120 b . . . 120 m, and 120 c . . . 120n may comprise one or more components the region management application120 depicted in FIG. 2, and may be configured to fully or partiallyperform the functionalities described herein depending on where theinstance resides. In some embodiments, the region management application120 may be implemented using software executable by one or moreprocessors of one or more computer devices, using hardware, such as butnot limited to a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc., and/or acombination of hardware and software, etc. The region managementapplication 120 may receive and process the vehicle data, the serverdata, etc., and may communicate with other elements of the vehicleplatform 103 via the bus 154, such as the memory 117, the communicationunit 119, the vehicle data store 123, etc. The region managementapplication 120 is described in details below with reference to at leastFIGS. 2-8C.

The navigation application 122 is computer logic executable to providenavigational guidance to the user of the vehicle platform 103. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the management server 101 may include theinstance 122 a, the vehicle platform 103 a . . . 103 n may include theinstances 122 b . . . 122 m, and the regionalized servers 107 a . . .107 n may include the instances 122 c . . . 122 n of the navigationapplication 122. In some embodiments, the navigation application 122 maybe implemented using software executable by one or more processors ofone or more computer devices, using hardware, such as but not limited toa field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), etc., and/or a combination of hardware andsoftware, etc. In some embodiments, the navigation application 122 maydetermine one or more vehicle routes to a destination, generatenavigation instructions corresponding to each vehicle route, and providethe navigation instructions of the vehicle route selected or followed bythe user via the input/output device of the vehicle platform 103. Insome embodiments, the navigation application 122 may perform pathplanning to determine one or more driving maneuvers for the user of thevehicle platform 103 to follow the vehicle route, and provide drivinginstructions describing the driving maneuvers via the input/outputdevice of the vehicle platform 103.

In some embodiments, the navigation application 122 may analyze the datareceived from multiple vehicle platforms 103 to determine drivingcontext, and determine optimal vehicle route and/or optimal drivingmaneuvers for the vehicle platform 103 accordingly. Thus, as thecoverage regions of the regionalized servers 107 are efficiently managedby the region management application 120, the navigation application 122can collect sufficient relevant data from the vehicle platforms 103located within a coverage region of a regionalized server 107, and thusthe accuracy of its operation can be significantly improved. It shouldbe understood that in addition to the navigation application 122, thevehicle platforms 103, the regionalized servers 107, and/or themanagement server 101 may also implement other vehicle applications thatrely on the data collected from the vehicle platforms 103 located withina coverage region of a regionalized server 107 to perform theiroperations (e.g., vehicle sharing application, road scene modelingapplication, etc.) in which the coverage regions of the regionalizedservers 107 are managed by the region management application 120.

The memory(ies) 117 includes a non-transitory computer-usable (e.g.,readable, writeable, etc.) medium, which can be any tangiblenon-transitory apparatus or device that can contain, store, communicate,propagate or transport instructions, data, computer programs, software,code, routines, etc., for processing by or in connection with theprocessor(s) 115. For example, the memory(ies) 117 may store the regionmanagement application 120 and/or the navigation application 122. Insome implementations, the memory(ies) 117 may include one or more ofvolatile memory and non-volatile memory. For example, the memory(ies)117 may include, but is not limited to, one or more of a dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) device, a static random access memory (SRAM)device, a discrete memory device (e.g., a PROM, FPROM, ROM), a hard diskdrive, an optical disk drive (CD, DVD, Blue-Ray™, etc.). It should beunderstood that the memory(ies) 117 may be a single device or mayinclude multiple types of devices and configurations.

The communication unit 119 transmits data to and receives data fromother computing devices to which it is communicatively coupled (e.g.,via the network 105) using wireless and/or wired connections. Thecommunication unit 119 may include one or more wired interfaces and/orwireless transceivers for sending and receiving data. The communicationunit 119 may couple to the network 105 and communicate with otherentities of the system 100, such as other vehicle platform(s) 103,management server(s) 101, and/or regionalized server(s) 107 associatedwith the coverage region in which the vehicle platform 103 is located,etc. The communication unit 119 may exchange data with other computingnodes using standard communication methods, such as those discussedabove.

The sensor(s) 113 includes any type of sensors suitable for the vehicleplatform(s) 103. The sensor(s) 113 may be configured to collect any typeof signal data suitable to determine characteristics of the vehicleplatform 103 and/or its internal and external environments. Non-limitingexamples of the sensor(s) 113 include various optical sensors and/orimage sensors (CCD, CMOS, 2D, 3D, light detection and ranging (LIDAR),cameras, etc.), audio sensors, motion detection sensors, barometers,altimeters, thermocouples, moisture sensors, infrared (IR) sensors,radar sensors, other photo sensors, gyroscopes, accelerometers,speedometers, steering sensors, braking sensors, switches, vehicleindicator sensors, windshield wiper sensors, geo-location sensors (e.g.,Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors), orientation sensor, wirelesstransceivers (e.g., cellular, WiFi™, near-field, etc.), sonar sensors,ultrasonic sensors, touch sensors, proximity sensors, distance sensors,etc. In some embodiments, one or more sensors 113 may include externallyfacing sensors provided at the front side, rear side, right side, and/orleft side of the vehicle platform 103 in order to capture thesituational context surrounding the vehicle platform 103.

The vehicle data store 123 includes a non-transitory storage medium thatstores various types of data. For example, the vehicle data store 123may store vehicle data being communicated between different componentsof a given vehicle platform 103 using a bus, such as a controller areanetwork (CAN) bus. In some embodiments, the vehicle data may includevehicle operation data collected from multiple sensors 113 coupled todifferent components of the vehicle platform 103 for monitoringoperating states of these components, e.g., the vehicle speed, thevehicle acceleration/deceleration rate, the wheel speed (Revolutions PerMinute—RPM), the steering angle, the braking force, etc. In someembodiments, the vehicle data may also include the vehicle location(e.g., GPS coordinates) indicating the geographic location of thevehicle platform 103, the moving direction of the vehicle platform 103,the vehicle route currently followed by the vehicle platform 103 to getto a destination, etc.

In some embodiments, the vehicle data store 123 may store roadway datadescribing the roadway structure and the roadway condition of variousroad segments. In some embodiments, the roadway data associated with aroad segment may include one or more roadway attributes of the roadsegment. Non-limiting examples of the roadway attributes include, butare not limited to, the roadway type (e.g., freeway, city street, etc.),the roadway geometry (e.g., the shape and size of the roadway, the roadcurvature, the road grade, etc.), the roadway status (e.g., roadclosure, road construction, etc.), the number of lanes, the lane type(e.g., carpool lane, exit lane, merging lane, etc.), the lane status(e.g., lane closure, open lane, etc.), the number of intersections, thetraffic light position, the speed limit, etc., of the road segment. Insome embodiments, the vehicle platform 103 may analyze the sensor datacaptured by the sensors 113 as the vehicle platform 103 travel along theroad segment, and determine the roadway data associated with the roadsegment based on the sensor data. Other types of roadway data are alsopossible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, the vehicle data store 123 may store traffic datadescribing the traffic condition on various road segments. In someembodiments, the traffic data associated with a road segment may includeone or more traffic attributes of the road segment. Non-limitingexamples of the traffic attributes include, but are not limited to, thevehicle density indicating the number of vehicles present on apredefined distance of the road segment (e.g., 40 vehicles/km), thetraffic flow rate indicating the number of vehicles passing a staticpoint on the road segment in a predefined time period (e.g., 4000vehicles/h), the average vehicle speed of the vehicles travelling on theroad segment (e.g., 100 km/h), the average following distance betweenthe vehicles travelling on the road segment (e.g., 15 m), etc. In someembodiments, the traffic data associated with the road segment may alsoinclude the traffic pattern describing the traffic condition on the roadsegment at various time of day. In some embodiments, the vehicleplatform 103 may analyze the sensor data captured by the sensors 113 asthe vehicle platform 103 travel along the road segment, and determinethe traffic data associated with the road segment based on the sensordata. Other types of traffic data are also possible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, the vehicle data store 123 may store applicationdata of one or more vehicle applications that are implemented on themanagement server 101 and/or the regionalized servers 107 and providedto the vehicle platform 103. In some embodiments, as the vehicleapplication is provided to the vehicle platform 103 by the managementserver 101 and/or by the regionalized server 107 associated with thecoverage region in which the vehicle platform 103 is located, thevehicle platform 103 may send and receive the application data of thevehicle application (e.g., application request, application executiondata, application response data, etc.) to and from the management server101 and/or the regionalized server 107. In some embodiments, the vehicleplatform 103 may also periodically transmit to the management server 101and/or the regionalized server 107 other types of data associated withthe vehicle platform 103 (e.g., the vehicle data, the roadway data, thetraffic data, etc.).

In some embodiments, the vehicle data store 123 may store trigger datadescribing the trigger events that trigger the adjustment orre-establishment of the coverage regions of the regionalized servers107. In some embodiments, the trigger events may include traffic triggerevents and server trigger events. Non-limiting examples of the traffictrigger events include, but are not limited to, a change of roadwaycondition, a change of traffic condition, a change of traffic conditionreflected in the traffic pattern of the road segment, etc. Non-limitingexamples of the server trigger events include, but are not limited to,an implementation of a vehicle application to be temporarily accessiblewithin an application accessible area, a regionalized server associatedwith a coverage region becomes unavailable, etc. Other types of triggerevents are also possible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, the vehicle data store 123 may store one or morecoverage region topologies of one or more geographical areas. Thecoverage region topology of each geographical area may describe one ormore coverage regions in the geographical area, and specify theregionalized server(s) 107 associated with each coverage region. In someembodiments, for each coverage region in the geographical area, thecoverage region topology may indicate the region shape (e.g., ellipse,circle, rectangular, etc.), the region size (e.g., ellipse axes, circlediameter, rectangular dimensions, etc.), the region location (e.g., GPScoordinates), etc., of the coverage region. In some embodiments, thecoverage region topology of the geographical area may be updated as thecoverage regions of the regionalized servers 107 in the geographicalarea are adjusted and/or redefined.

In some embodiments, the vehicle data store 123 may be part of a datastorage system (e.g., a standard data or database management system) forstoring and providing access to data. Other types of data stored in thevehicle data store 123 are also possible and contemplated.

The regionalized server 107 includes a hardware and/or virtual serverthat includes a processor, a memory, and network communicationcapabilities (e.g., a communication unit). As depicted, the regionalizedserver 107 may be communicatively coupled to the vehicle platforms 103located within its coverage region, the management server 101, and/orother entities of the system 100 via the network 105 as reflected bysignal line 160. In some embodiments, the regionalized server 107 may bea physical regionalized server 107. The physical regionalized server 107may be implemented in a computing infrastructure (e.g., a roadside unit,a telco node, etc.) as a stationary regionalized server 107, orimplemented in a vehicle platform 103 as a movable regionalized server107. In some embodiments, the regionalized server 107 may be a virtualregionalized server 107. The virtual regionalized server 107 may residein one or more physical regionalized servers 107, the management server101, and/or any physical computing entity(ies) of the system 100.

In some embodiments, the regionalized server 107 may be associated witha coverage region within a geographical area. Thus, the coverage regionmay be covered by the regionalized server 107, and the regionalizedserver 107 may communicate with vehicular traffic in this coverageregion. As the regionalized server 107 may communicate with thevehicular traffic in this coverage region, the regionalized server 107may send and receive data to and from the vehicle platforms 103 locatedwithin the coverage region, and thus the regionalized server 107 canprovide the vehicle applications implemented on the regionalized server107 to these vehicle platforms 103. In some embodiments, the physicalregionalized servers 107 and/or the physical computing entities on whichthe virtual regionalized servers 107 reside may be located at a lowerdistance from the geographical areas as compared to the managementserver 101. This implementation is advantageous because thecommunication delay between the vehicle platforms 103 located in thegeographical areas and these regionalized servers 107 can be reduced.

In some embodiments, the regionalized server 107 may be associated withmultiple coverage regions, these coverage regions may be in the samegeographical area or in different geographical areas. As an example, aphysical regionalized server 107 may be associated with a first coverageregion, and may host a virtual regionalized server 107 associated with asecond coverage region. Thus, the physical regionalized server 107 maybe considered as being associated with the first coverage region and thesecond coverage region. As another example, a regionalized server 107may implement a vehicle application that does not rely on the trafficdata to operate. Therefore, the regionalized server 107 may beassociated with multiple coverage regions to provide the vehicleapplication to the vehicle platforms 103 located within these coverageregions, even if the traffic in these coverage regions may not berelevant or may not impact one another.

In some embodiments, a coverage region in the geographical area may beassociated with multiple regionalized server 107. As an example,multiple vehicle platforms 103 located within the coverage region at aparticular timestamp may perform the functionalities of multiple movableregionalized server 107. These movable regionalized server 107 maycollaboratively cover the coverage region, and provide the vehicleapplications implemented on these movable regionalized server 107 to thevehicle platforms 103 located within the coverage region at theparticular timestamp. In this present disclosure, the region managementmethod and system may be described with the embodiments in which onecoverage region is associated with one regionalized server 107 tosimplify the description. However, it should be understood that onecoverage region may be associated with one or more regionalized servers107, and one regionalized server 107 may be associated with one or morecoverage regions as discussed above. The coverage region(s) associatedwith a regionalized server 107 may be referred to herein as the coverageregion(s) of the regionalized server 107.

As depicted in FIG. 1, the regionalized server 107 may include aninstance 120 c of the region management application 120, an instance 122b of the navigation application 122 and a regionalized server data store126 that stores various types of data for access and/or retrieval bythese applications. In some embodiments, the regionalized server datastore 126 includes a non-transitory storage medium that storesapplication data of one or more vehicle applications implemented on theregionalized server 107, and the regionalized server 107 may providethese vehicle applications to the vehicle platforms 103 located withinits coverage region. Non-limiting examples of the application data ofthe vehicle application include, but are not limited to, executablefile, data file, input data, output data, data format, data size,average execution time, etc., of the vehicle application. In someembodiments, the application data may also include the operationrequirement describing the requirements to execute an applicationrequest associated with the vehicle application. In some embodiments,the operation requirement of the vehicle application may specify theresource amount required to execute the application request (e.g., theamount of computing resource, the amount of data storage resource, theamount of memory resource, the amount of communication resource, etc.).The operation requirement of the vehicle application may also specifythe server configuration required to implement the vehicle application(e.g., Central Processing Unit (CPU), Graphic Processing Unit (GPU),etc.). Other types of application data of the vehicle application arealso possible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, the regionalized server data store 126 may storeserver operation data of the regionalized server 107. The serveroperation data may include one or more server parameters describing theserver operation of the regionalized server 107, the server resourcedata describing the computational resources of the regionalized server107, etc. In some embodiments, the server resource data may indicate thetotal resource amount of the regionalized server 107 and the availableresource amount of the regionalized server 107 at multiple timestamps.For each timestamp, the available resource amount may indicate theamount of available computing resource (e.g., number of available CPUcycles), the amount of available data storage resource (e.g., capacityof free storage space), the amount of available memory resource (e.g.,capacity of free memory space), the amount of available communicationresource (e.g., unoccupied communication bandwidth), etc., of theregionalized server 107 at the timestamp.

In some embodiments, the regionalized server data store 126 may storevarious types of data received from the vehicle platforms 103. In someembodiments, the regionalized server 107 may receive the vehicle data,the roadway data, the traffic data, the application data, etc., frommultiple vehicle platforms 103 located within its coverage region, andstore the received data in the regionalized server data store 126. Asdiscussed elsewhere herein, the vehicle applications implemented on theregionalized server 107 (e.g., the navigation application 122, etc.) mayuse the data received from multiple vehicle platforms 103 located withinthe coverage region of the regionalized server 107 to execute theapplication requests for these vehicle platforms 103, thereby improvingthe accuracy and efficiency of these vehicle applications. In someembodiments, the regionalized server 107 may transmit the data receivedfrom multiple vehicle platforms 103 located within its coverage regionto the management server 101. The data received from a vehicle platform103 may be referred to herein as the data associated with the vehicleplatform 103.

In some embodiments, the regionalized server data store 126 may storethe roadway data describing the roadway structure and the roadwaycondition of various road segments in the coverage region of theregionalized server 107. In some embodiments, the regionalized server107 may analyze the data associated with the vehicle platforms 103located within its coverage region, and extract or determine the roadwaydata of these road segments based on the data associated with thesevehicle platforms 103. In some embodiments, the regionalized server 107may receive the roadway data of the road segments in its coverage regionfrom the management server 101 and/or a third-party server (e.g.,Transportation Department).

In some embodiments, the regionalized server data store 126 may storethe traffic data describing the traffic condition of various roadsegments in the coverage region of the regionalized server 107. In someembodiments, the regionalized server 107 may analyze the data associatedwith the vehicle platforms 103 located within its coverage region, andextract or determine the traffic data of these road segments based onthe data associated with these vehicle platforms 103. The regionalizedserver 107 may also analyze the data associated with the vehicleplatforms 103, and determine the traffic pattern of these road segmentsat various time of day. In some embodiments, the regionalized server 107may receive the traffic data and/or the traffic pattern of the roadsegments in its coverage region from the management server 101.

In some embodiments, the regionalized server data store 126 may storethe trigger data describing the trigger events that trigger theadjustment or re-establishment of the coverage regions of theregionalized servers 107. As discussed elsewhere herein, the triggerevents may include the traffic trigger events and the server triggerevents. In some embodiments, the regionalized server data store 126 mayalso store the coverage region topology of the geographical area thatincludes the coverage region of the regionalized server 107. Asdiscussed elsewhere herein, the coverage region topology of thegeographical area may describe one or more coverage regions in thegeographical area, and specify the regionalized server(s) 107 associatedwith each coverage region.

The management server 101 includes a hardware and/or virtual server thatincludes a processor, a memory, and network communication capabilities(e.g., a communication unit). In some embodiments, the management server101 may be a computing server located remotely from the geographicalareas. For example, the management server 101 may be a cloud serverresiding in a data center. The management server 101 may becommunicatively coupled to the network 105, as reflected by signal line158. In some embodiments, the management server 101 may send and receivedata to and from other entities of the system 100, e.g., theregionalized servers 107, the vehicle platforms 103, etc. via thenetwork 105. As depicted, the management server 101 may include aninstance 120 a of the region management application 120, an instance 122a of the navigation application 122, and a management server data store124 that stores various types of data for access and/or retrieval bythese applications.

In some embodiments, the management server data store 124 includes anon-transitory storage medium that stores geographical area dataassociated with one or more geographical areas. In some embodiments,each geographical area may include one or more coverage regions, eachcoverage regions may be associated with one or more regionalized servers107 as discussed elsewhere herein. In some embodiments, for eachgeographical area, the management server data store 124 may store thecoverage region topology describing the coverage regions in thegeographical area and specifying the regionalized server(s) 107associated with each coverage region. The management server data store124 may also store the server operation data describing the serveroperation and the computational resources of the regionalized server(s)107 associated with each coverage region.

In some embodiments, the management server data store 124 may store dataassociated with multiple vehicle platforms 103. The management server101 may receive the data associated with the vehicle platform 103 fromthe vehicle platform 103 and/or from the regionalized server 107associated with the coverage region in which the vehicle platform 103 islocated, and store the data associated with the vehicle platform 103 inthe management server data store 124. As discussed elsewhere herein, thedata associated with the vehicle platform 103 may include the vehicledata, the roadway data, the traffic data, the application data, etc.,received from the vehicle platform 103.

In some embodiments, for each geographical area, the management serverdata store 124 may store the roadway data describing the roadwaystructure and the roadway condition of various road segments in thegeographical area. In some embodiments, the management server 101 mayanalyze the data associated with the vehicle platforms 103 locatedwithin the geographical area, and extract or determine the roadway dataof these road segments based on the data associated with these vehicleplatforms 103. In some embodiments, the management server 101 mayreceive the roadway data of the road segments in the geographical areafrom a third-party server (e.g., Transportation Department).

In some embodiments, for each geographical area, the management serverdata store 124 may store the traffic data describing the trafficcondition of various road segments in the geographical area. In someembodiments, the management server 101 may analyze the data associatedwith the vehicle platforms 103 located within the geographical area, andextract or determine the traffic data of these road segments based onthe data associated with these vehicle platforms 103. The managementserver 101 may also analyze the data associated with the vehicleplatforms 103, and determine the traffic pattern of these road segmentsat various time of day.

In some embodiments, the management server data store 124 may storeapplication data of various vehicle applications implemented on themanagement server 101 and/or the regionalized servers 107 to provide tothe vehicle platforms 103 (e.g., navigation application 122, etc.). Asdiscussed elsewhere herein, the application data may include theoperation requirement of the vehicle application. In some embodiments,the management server data store 124 may also store the trigger datadescribing the trigger events that trigger the adjustment orre-establishment of the coverage regions of the regionalized servers107. As discussed elsewhere herein, the trigger events may include thetraffic trigger events and the server trigger events. In someembodiments, the management server data store 124 may also store eventdata describing various public events in the geographical areas. In someembodiments, for each public event, the event data may include the eventtype (e.g., parade, sport game, etc.), the event location (e.g., RioTinto Stadium), the event capacity (e.g., 10,000 attendees), the eventstart time, the event end time, etc., of the public event. Other typesof event data are also possible and contemplated.

Other variations and/or combinations are also possible and contemplated.It should be understood that the system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 isrepresentative of an example system and that a variety of differentsystem environments and configurations are contemplated and are withinthe scope of the present disclosure. For instance, various acts and/orfunctionality may be moved from a server to a client, or vice versa,data may be consolidated into a single data store or further segmentedinto additional data stores, and some implementations may includeadditional or fewer computing devices, services, and/or networks, andmay implement various functionality client or server-side. Further,various entities of the system may be integrated into a single computingdevice or system or divided into additional computing devices orsystems, etc.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example region management application120. As depicted, the region management application 120 may include anevent detector 202, a topology processor 204, and a coverage regionmanager 206, although it should be understood that the region managementapplication 120 may include additional components such as, but notlimited to, a configuration engine, a training engine, anencryption/decryption engine, etc., and/or these various components maybe combined into a single engine or divided into additional engines. Theevent detector 202, the topology processor 204, and the coverage regionmanager 206 may be implemented as software, hardware, or a combinationof the foregoing. In some embodiments, the event detector 202, thetopology processor 204, and the coverage region manager 206 may becommunicatively coupled by the bus 154 and/or the processor 115 to oneanother and/or to the other components of the computing device 152. Insome embodiments, one or more of the components 120, 202, 204, and/or206 are sets of instructions executable by the processor 115 to providetheir functionality. In further embodiments, one or more of thecomponents 120, 202, 204, and/or 206 are storable in the memory 117 andare accessible and executable by the processor 115 to provide theirfunctionality. In any of the foregoing embodiments, these components120, 202, 204, and/or 206 may be adapted for cooperation andcommunication with the processor 115 and other components of thecomputing device 152. The region management application 120 and itscomponents 202, 204, 206 are described in further detail below withreference to at least FIGS. 3-8C.

As discussed elsewhere herein, the region management application 120 iscomputer logic executable to manage the coverage regions of regionalizedservers 107 in a geographical area. An example geographical area 600 isillustrated in FIG. 6A. As depicted, the geographical area 600 may be apredefined area and may include one or more coverage regions. In someembodiments, the topology processor 204 may determine the coverageregions for the geographical area based on the roadway structure and/orthe traffic pattern of various road segments in the geographical area.For example, as depicted in FIG. 6A, the topology processor 204 maycreate a coverage region 602 covering a portion of the freeway I-15 dueto the heavy traffic on this road segment, a coverage region 604covering an interchange between the freeway I-15 and the freeway 215,etc. As depicted, the coverage regions may be positioned across thegeographical area 600 and may have different shape and size. In someembodiments, two or more coverage regions may be located adjacent to oneanother and may share a portion of their region boundary. In this case,these two or more coverage regions may be considered as beingcontinuously adjacent to one another (e.g., the coverage regions 610 and612; the coverage regions 620, 622, and 624). In some embodiments, twoor more coverage regions may be located adjacent to one another but maynot share any portion of their region boundary. In this case, these twoor more coverage regions may be considered as being discontinuouslyadjacent to one another (e.g., the coverage regions 612 and 614; thecoverage regions 616 and 618). As depicted in FIG. 6A, the coverageregion may cover a road segment (e.g., the coverage regions 612, 614,618, 620, 622) and/or a residential area (e.g., the coverage regions616, 624, 626).

In some embodiments, each coverage region in the geographical area maybe associated with a regionalized server 107, the regionalized server107 associated with the coverage region may be configured to communicatewith the vehicular traffic in the coverage region. For example, theregionalized server 107 may send and receive data to and from thevehicle platforms 103 located within the coverage region, and providevehicle applications implemented on the regionalized server 107 to thesevehicle platforms 103. Although the region management application 120 isdescribed below with the embodiments in which each coverage region isassociated with one regionalized server 107 to simplify the description,it should be understood that each coverage region may be associated withone or more regionalized servers 107, and each regionalized server 107may be associated with one or more coverage regions as discussedelsewhere herein.

FIGS. 6B-6D illustrates other example coverage regions of othergeographical areas. FIG. 6B depicts a geographical area 632 and ageographical area 634. In this example, each geographical area mayinclude one coverage region that covers the entire geographical area,and each coverage region may be associated with one regionalized server107. FIG. 6C depicts a geographical area 650 including the coverageregions 652, 654, 656, 658 that cover various road segments. In thisexample, the coverage regions 652, 654, 656, 658 may be determined basedon the traffic condition of the corresponding road segment, and eachcoverage region may be associated with one regionalized server 107. FIG.6D depicts a residential area 670 of a geographical area. In thisexample, the residential area 670 may include multiple road segmentswith relatively low traffic. Therefore, the residential area 670 may becovered by one coverage region, and the coverage region may beassociated with one regionalized server 107.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method 300 for managing the coverageregions of the regionalized servers 107 in a geographical area. In someembodiments, the geographical area may initially include a set ofcoverage regions that are respectively associated with a set ofregionalized servers 107. In this present disclosure, a set of coverageregions may include one or more coverage regions, and a set ofregionalized servers 107 may include one or more regionalized servers107.

In block 302, the event detector 202 may detect a trigger eventassociated with the geographical area, the trigger event may be atraffic trigger event or a server trigger event that triggers theadjustment or the re-establishment of the coverage regions in thegeographical area. In some embodiments, to detect the traffic triggerevent, the event detector 202 may monitor the roadway data of variousroad segments in the geographical area, and detect the traffic triggerevent based on the roadway data. In some embodiments, the event detector202 may analyze the roadway data of a road segment, and determinewhether the roadway attribute of the road segment has changed (e.g., theroadway status of the road segment has changed from “open road” to “roadconstruction,” the lane status of a traffic lane in the road segment haschanged from “lane closure” to “open lane,” etc.). If the roadwayattribute of the road segment has changed, the event detector 202 maydetermine the traffic trigger event to be a change of roadway condition,and determine the road segment to be the road segment associated withthe traffic trigger event.

In some embodiments, the event detector 202 may monitor the traffic dataof various road segments in the geographical area, and detect thetraffic trigger event based on the traffic data. In some embodiments,the event detector 202 may analyze the traffic data of a road segment,and determine whether the traffic attribute of the road segment hassatisfied the corresponding traffic attribute threshold (e.g., thevehicle density of the road segment is higher than 180 vehicles/km, thetraffic flow rate of the road segment is lower than 20 vehicles/hour,etc.). If the traffic attribute of the road segment has satisfied thecorresponding traffic attribute threshold, the event detector 202 maydetermine the traffic trigger event to be a change of traffic condition,and determine the road segment to be the road segment associated withthe traffic trigger event. In some embodiments, the event detector 202may analyze the traffic pattern of the road segment, and determine thatthe traffic pattern of the road segment indicates a change of trafficcondition at a particular timestamp (e.g., the vehicle density of theroad segment usually increases above 150 vehicles/km at 5 pm onweekdays). Thus, at the particular timestamp, the event detector 202 maydetermine the traffic trigger event to be a change of traffic conditionthat is reflected in the traffic pattern of the road segment.

In some embodiments, the event detector 202 may analyze the trafficpattern of various the road segments in a coverage region of aregionalized server 107, and determine that the traffic pattern of theseroad segments indicates low traffic in the coverage region of theregionalized server 107 during a time window (e.g., the vehicle densityof these road segments is usually lower than 15 vehicles/km between 1 amand 5 am). Thus, at the start timestamp of the time window, the eventdetector 202 may determine the traffic trigger event to be the lowtraffic condition in the coverage region of the regionalized server 107during the time window. Other implementations for detecting the traffictrigger event are also possible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, to detect the server trigger event, the eventdetector 202 may monitor the server operation data of the regionalizedservers 107 associated with various coverage regions in the geographicalarea, and detect the server trigger event based on the server operationdata. In some embodiments, the event detector 202 may analyze the serveroperation data of a regionalized server 107, and determine whether theserver parameter of the regionalized server 107 has satisfied thecorresponding parameter threshold (e.g., the task execution time ishigher than 20 ms, etc.). If the server parameter of the regionalizedserver 107 has satisfied the corresponding parameter threshold, theevent detector 202 may determine that the regionalized server 107 hasbecome temporarily unavailable. Thus, the event detector 202 maydetermine the server trigger event to be an unavailability of theregionalized server 107, and determine the coverage region of theregionalized server 107 to be the coverage region associated with theserver trigger event.

In some embodiments, the event detector 202 may determine a public eventbased on the event data associated with the geographical area, anddetermine that a vehicle application is to be temporarily implemented ona regionalized server 107 due to the public event. During a time windowassociated with the public event, the regionalized server 107 mayprovide the vehicle application to the vehicle platforms 103 locatedwithin an application accessible area associated with the public event.Thus, the event detector 202 may determine the server trigger event tobe a temporary implementation of the vehicle application on theregionalized server 107. As an example, to provide parking assistancefor attendees of a hockey game that starts at 6 pm, the event detector202 may determine the server trigger event to be a temporaryimplementation of a parking application on a regionalized server 107,the regionalized server 107 may provide the parking application to thevehicle platforms 103 located within a predefined distance from thehockey arena (e.g., 750 m) during the time window between 4 pm and 7 pm.Other implementations for detecting the server trigger event are alsopossible and contemplated.

In block 304, the topology processor 204 may determine a topologymodification for the geographical area, the topology modification mayreflect a target coverage region for a first regionalized server 107. Insome embodiments, the topology processor 204 may determine the firstregionalized server 107 based on the trigger event, the firstregionalized server 107 may be initiated, may be removed, or may haveits coverage region being expanded or reduced in response to the triggerevent associated with the geographical area. In some embodiments, thetopology processor 204 may also determine the target coverage region tobe covered by the first regionalized server 107. As the target coverageregion is covered by the first regionalized server 107, the firstregionalized server 107 will be able to communicate and provide vehicleapplications to the vehicular traffic in the target coverage region. Insome embodiments, depending on the trigger event being detected, thetopology processor 204 may determine the target coverage region for thefirst regionalized server 107 based on the traffic condition of the roadsegment associated with the traffic trigger event, the resource amountof the first regionalized server 107, the operation requirement of thevehicle application implemented on the first regionalized server 107,and/or the application accessible area of the vehicle application to betemporarily implemented on the first regionalized server 107, etc.

In some embodiments, if the event detector 202 detects the servertrigger event in which a regionalized server 107 has become unavailable,the topology processor 204 may determine this regionalized server 107 tobe the first regionalized server 107, the first regionalized server 107may be associated with a first coverage region. As the firstregionalized server 107 is no longer available, the topology processor204 may determine the target coverage region for the first regionalizedserver 107 to be zero. Thus, in this situation, the topologymodification of the geographical area may be the elimination of thefirst coverage region associated with the first regionalized server 107as the first regionalized server 107 is removed. The first regionalizedserver 107 is considered being removed if the first regionalized server107 can no longer serve the vehicular platforms 103 in its firstcoverage region because the first regionalized server 107 is unavailableor inactivated. As an example, FIG. 7C depicts a topology modificationfrom the coverage region topology 740 to the coverage region topology742, in which the coverage region 746 associated with the firstregionalized server 107 is eliminated as the first regionalized server107 is removed.

In some embodiments, if the event detector 202 detects the servertrigger event in which a vehicle application is to be temporarilyimplemented due to a public event, the topology processor 204 mayinitiate a first regionalized server 107. The first regionalized server107 may be a virtual regionalized server 107 or a physical regionalizedserver 107. In some embodiments, the topology processor 204 maydetermine the target coverage region and the required resource amountfor the first regionalized server 107, and initiate the firstregionalized server 107 based on the target coverage region and therequired resource amount. In some embodiments, to determine the targetcoverage region for the first regionalized server 107, the topologyprocessor 204 may determine the application accessible area within whichthe vehicle application is accessible to the vehicle platforms 103 basedon the event location of the public event, and determine the targetcoverage region for the first regionalized server 107 to be theapplication accessible area of the vehicle application. In someembodiments, to determine the required resource amount for the firstregionalized server 107, the topology processor 204 may estimate anumber of vehicle platforms 103 located within the target coverageregion based on the traffic condition of various road segments in thetarget coverage region (e.g., the vehicle density, the traffic flowrate, etc.). The topology processor 204 may then determine the requiredresource amount for the first regionalized server 107 based on thenumber of vehicle platforms 103 located within the target coverageregion and the operation requirement of the vehicle application (e.g.,the amount of various computational resources required to execute anapplication request). Thus, in this situation, the topology modificationof the geographical area may be the creation of the target coverageregion associated with the first regionalized server 107 as the firstregionalized server 107 is initiated. As an example, FIG. 7A depicts atopology modification from the coverage region topology 700 to thecoverage region topology 702, in which the coverage region 708associated with the first regionalized server 107 is created as thefirst regionalized server 107 is newly initiated.

In some embodiments, if the event detector 202 detects the traffictrigger event in which the roadway condition and/or the trafficcondition of a road segment has changed, or detects the traffic triggerevent in which the change of traffic condition is reflected in thetraffic pattern of the road segment, the topology processor 204 maydetermine the first regionalized server 107 and the target coverageregion for the first regionalized server 107 based on the trafficcondition associated with the traffic trigger event. In someembodiments, the traffic condition associated with the traffic triggerevent may be the traffic condition of the road segment associated withthe traffic trigger event, and may include one or more of the vehicledensity, the traffic flow rate, the average vehicle speed, the averagefollowing distance, etc., of the road segment associated with thetraffic trigger event.

In some embodiments, to determine the first regionalized server 107, thetopology processor 204 may determine the regionalized server 107 thathas its coverage region covering at least a portion of the road segmentassociated with the traffic trigger event, and determine thisregionalized server 107 to be the first regionalized server 107, thefirst regionalized server 107 may be currently associated with a firstcoverage region.

In some embodiments, to determine the target coverage region for thefirst regionalized server 107, the topology processor 204 may determinethe first road segment to be included in the target coverage region. Insome embodiments, the topology processor 204 may determine from the roadsegment associated with the traffic trigger event the first road segmentthat has the vehicle density of the first road segment satisfying avehicle density threshold (e.g., higher than 120 vehicles/km), anddetermine the target coverage region for the first regionalized server107 to include the first road segment. This implementation isadvantageous, because as the vehicle density of the first road segmentsatisfies the vehicle density threshold, the data associated with thevehicle platforms 103 located on the first road segment may likely berelevant to one another. Therefore, as the target coverage regionincluding the first road segment is covered by the first regionalizedserver 107, the first regionalized server 107 can receive relevant datafrom multiple vehicle platforms 103 located on the first road segment,and thus the operation of the vehicle applications implemented on thefirst regionalized server 107 can be significantly improved.

In some embodiments, to determine the first road segment to be includedin the target coverage region, the topology processor 204 may estimatethe number of vehicles that are accommodatable by the first regionalizedserver 107 based on the resource amount of the first regionalized server107 (e.g., the total resource amount) and the operation requirements ofthe vehicle application (e.g., the required resource amount to executean application request). The topology processor 204 may also determinethe vehicle density of the road segment that includes the first coverageregion of the first regionalized server 107 based on the traffic data ofthe road segment. In some embodiments, the topology processor 204 maythen determine the first road segment from the road segment based on thenumber of vehicles that are accommodatable by the first regionalizedserver 107 and the vehicle density of the road segment, and determinethe target coverage region for the first regionalized server 107 toinclude the first road segment. As an example, the topology processor204 may determine that the first regionalized server 107 can accommodate4500 vehicles, and the vehicle density of the road segment that includesthe first coverage region of the first regionalized server 107 is 150vehicles/km. In this example, the topology processor 204 may determinefrom the road segment the first road segment that has the length of 30km to be included in the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server 107.

In some embodiments, as the first road segment to be covered by thetarget coverage region of the first regionalized server 107 isdetermined, the topology processor 204 may determine the region shape ofthe target coverage region. In some embodiments, the target coverageregion for the first regionalized server 107 may have the same regionshape as the first coverage region of the first regionalized server 107or a default region shape (e.g., ellipse). In some embodiments, thetopology processor 204 may determine the region shape of the targetcoverage region based on the roadway structure of the first road segmentincluded in the target coverage region (e.g., including both freewaysection and ramp section), etc.

In some embodiments, the topology processor 204 may compare the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server 107 and the firstcoverage region of the first regionalized server 107. If the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server 107 is smaller than thefirst coverage region of the first regionalized server 107, the topologyprocessor 204 may determine the topology modification of thegeographical area to be the reduction of the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server 107 to the target coverageregion. As an example, FIG. 7D depicts a topology modification from thecoverage region topology 760 to the coverage region topology 762, inwhich the coverage region 766 associated with the first regionalizedserver 107 is reduced to the target coverage region. If the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server 107 is larger than thefirst coverage region of the first regionalized server 107, the topologyprocessor 204 may determine the topology modification of thegeographical area to be the expansion of the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server 107 to the target coverageregion. As an example, FIG. 7B depicts a topology modification from thecoverage region topology 720 to the coverage region topology 722, inwhich the coverage region 726 associated with the first regionalizedserver 107 is expanded to the target coverage region.

In some embodiments, the topology processor 204 may determine that thetarget coverage region of the first regionalized server 107 is largerthan the first coverage region of the first regionalized server 107(e.g., to cover the first road segment that has the vehicle densitysatisfying the vehicle density threshold), and also determine that theresource amount of the first regionalized server 107 (e.g., the totalresource amount) does not satisfy the required resource amount toaccommodate the vehicle platforms 103 located within the target coverageregion of the first regionalized server 107. In some embodiments, thetopology processor 204 may then remove (e.g., inactivate) the firstregionalized server 107, and initiate a replacement regionalized server107 to replace the first regionalized server 107. In some embodiments,the replacement regionalized server 107 may cover the target coverageregion, and may be allocated the resource amount that satisfies therequired resource amount to accommodate the vehicle platforms 103located within the target coverage region. As the first regionalizedserver 107 is removed, the replacement regionalized server 107 may nowbe considered as the first regionalized server 107. Thus, in thissituation, the topology modification of the geographical area may be thecreation of the target coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server 107 as the first regionalized server 107 isinitiated.

In some embodiments, the topology processor 204 may determine that theroad segment associated with the traffic trigger event is not covered byany coverage region of the regionalized servers 107 in the geographicalarea. The topology processor 204 may then initiate a first regionalizedserver 107 (e.g., a virtual regionalized server 107). In someembodiments, the topology processor 204 may determine the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server 107 to include the roadsegment associated with the traffic trigger event. The topologyprocessor 204 may also allocate to the first regionalized server 107 theresource amount that satisfies the required resource amount toaccommodate the vehicle platforms 103 located on this road segment.Thus, in this situation, the topology modification of the geographicalarea may be the creation of the target coverage region associated withthe first regionalized server 107 as the first regionalized server 107is initiated.

In some embodiments, if the event detector 202 detects the traffictrigger event in which the traffic pattern indicates a low trafficcondition in a coverage area of a regionalized server 107 during a timewindow, the topology processor 204 may determine this regionalizedserver 107 to be the first regionalized server 107, the firstregionalized server 107 may be associated with the first coverageregion. In some embodiments, the topology processor 204 may inactivatethe first regionalized server 107 during the time window due to the lowtraffic condition in the first coverage region. As the firstregionalized server 107 is no longer available, the topology processor204 may determine the target coverage region for the first regionalizedserver 107 to be zero. Thus, in this situation, the topologymodification of the geographical area may be the elimination of thefirst coverage region associated with the first regionalized server 107as the first regionalized server 107 is removed. Other implementationsfor determining the topology modification of the geographical area arealso possible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, as the topology modification reflecting the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server 107 is determined, thetopology processor 204 may modify the coverage region topology of thegeographical area based on the topology modification. In someembodiments, if the first regionalized server 107 is initiated, thetopology processor 204 may create the target coverage region in thecoverage region topology of geographical area and associate the firstregionalized server 107 to the target coverage region. In someembodiments, if the first regionalized server 107 associated with thefirst coverage region is removed, the topology processor 204 mayeliminate the first coverage region of the first regionalized server 107from the coverage region topology of the geographical area. In someembodiments, if the first coverage region of the first regionalizedserver 107 is expanded or reduced to the target coverage region of thefirst regionalized server 107, the topology processor 204 may morph thefirst coverage region of the first regionalized server 107 into thetarget coverage region of the first regionalized server 107 in thecoverage region topology of the geographical area.

In block 306, the coverage region manager 206 may determine a set ofsecond coverage regions in the geographical area that are adjacent tothe target coverage region of the first regionalized server 107. In someembodiments, the distance between the second coverage region in the setof second coverage regions and the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server 107 may satisfy a distance threshold (e.g., lessthan 30 km). In some embodiments, the set of second coverage regions maybe respectively associated with a set of second regionalized servers107, each second regionalized server 107 in the set of secondregionalized servers 107 may communicate with the vehicular traffic inits corresponding coverage region in the set of second coverage regions.For example, the second regionalized server 107 may send and receivedata to and from the vehicle platforms 103 located within its coverageregion, and provide the vehicle applications implemented on the secondregionalized server 107 to these vehicle platforms 103.

In some embodiments, to determine the set of second coverage regions, ifthe topology modification of the geographical area is the creation ofthe target coverage region associated with the first regionalized server107 as the first regionalized server 107 is newly initiated, or theexpansion of the first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server 107 to the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server 107, the coverage region manager 206 may determinethe set of second coverage regions in which the second coverage regionoverlaps with the target coverage region of the first regionalizedserver 107. In the example depicted in FIG. 7A in which the coverageregion 704 is created, the coverage region manager 206 may determine theset of second coverage regions to be the coverage regions 704 and 706.In the example depicted in FIG. 7B in which the coverage region 704 isexpanded, the coverage region manager 206 may determine the set ofsecond coverage regions to be the coverage regions 724 and 728.

In some embodiments, to determine the set of second coverage regions, ifthe topology modification of the geographical area is the elimination ofthe first coverage region associated with the first regionalized server107 as the first regionalized server 107 is removed, or the reduction ofthe first coverage region associated with the first regionalized server107 to the target coverage region of the first regionalized server 107,the coverage region manager 206 may determine the difference regionbetween the first coverage region of the first regionalized server 107and the target coverage region of the first regionalized server 107.

In some embodiments, the coverage region manager 206 may determine theset of second coverage regions that are adjacent to the target coverageregion of the first regionalized server 107, in which the set of secondregionalized servers 107 associated with the set of second coverageregions may have the resource amount (e.g., the total resource amount ofthe set of second regionalized servers 107) satisfying the requiredresource amount to accommodate 1) the vehicle platforms 103 locatedwithin the set of second coverage regions, and 2) the vehicle platforms103 located within the difference region. In some embodiments, todetermine the required resource amount to accommodate the vehicleplatforms 103 located within these coverage regions, the coverage regionmanager 206 may estimate a number of vehicle platforms 103 locatedwithin these coverage regions based on the traffic condition of the roadsegments in these coverage regions (e.g., the vehicle density, thetraffic flow rate, etc.). The coverage region manager 206 may thendetermine the required resource amount based on the number of vehicleplatforms 103 located within these coverage regions and the operationrequirement of the vehicle application (e.g., the amount ofcomputational resources required to execute an application request).Continuing the example depicted in FIG. 7C in which the coverage region746 is removed, the coverage region manager 206 may determine the set ofsecond coverage regions to be the coverage regions 744 and 748. In theexample depicted in FIG. 7D in which the coverage region 766 is reduced,the coverage region manager 206 may determine the set of second coverageregions to be the coverage regions 764 and 768.

In some embodiments, the set of second coverage regions that areadjacent to the target coverage region of the first regionalized server107 and have sufficient resource amount to also accommodate the vehicleplatforms 103 in the difference region may not exist. If the set ofsecond coverage regions does not exist, the coverage region manager 206may initiate a third regionalized server 107 (e.g., a virtualregionalized server 107). In some embodiments, the coverage regionmanager 206 may allocate to the third regionalized server 107 theresource amount that satisfies the required resource amount toaccommodate the vehicle platforms 103 located within the differenceregion, and assign the third regionalized server 107 to the differenceregion. Thus, in this case, the difference region caused by theelimination or the reduction of the first coverage region to the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server 107 may be covered bythe third regionalized server 107 that is newly initiated, withoutadjusting the second coverage regions adjacent to the target coverageregion of the first regionalized server 107 (if any). As an example,FIG. 7E depicts a topology modification from the coverage regiontopology 780 to the coverage region topology 782, in which the coverageregion 762 associated with the first regionalized server 107 is reducedto the target coverage region. In this example, the coverage regionmanager 206 may initiate an additional regionalized server 107 to coverthe difference region 784.

In block 308, as the set of second coverage regions associated with theset of second regionalized servers 107 that are adjacent to the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server 107 is determined, thecoverage region manager 206 may determine a region count indicating thenumber of coverage regions included in the set of second coverageregions, and determine whether the region count of the set of secondcoverage regions satisfies a region count threshold (e.g., less than 2coverage regions). If the region count of the set of second coverageregions satisfies the region count threshold, the coverage regionmanager 206 may determine that the topology modification that results inthe target coverage region of the first regionalized server 107 onlyimpacts a limited number of second coverage regions, and thus thecoverage region manager 206 may perform a minor topology update toadjust the set of second coverage regions. To perform the minor topologyupdate, in block 310, the coverage region manager 206 may determine amorphing portion for each second coverage region in the set of secondcoverage regions based on the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server 107. In block 312, the coverage region manager 206may morph the set of second coverage regions based on theircorresponding morphing portions.

In some embodiments, the coverage region manager 206 may rely on thetopology modification of the geographical area to perform the minortopology update. As discussed elsewhere herein, if the topologymodification of the geographical area is the creation of the targetcoverage region associated with the first regionalized server 107 as thefirst regionalized server 107 is newly initiated, or the expansion ofthe first coverage region associated with the first regionalized server107 to the target coverage region of the first regionalized server 107,the set of second coverage regions may include the second coverageregions that overlap with the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server 107. In some embodiments, for these types oftopology modification, the coverage region manager 206 may determine themorphing portion for each second coverage region in the set of secondcoverage regions to include an overlap area where the second coverageregion associated with the second regionalized server 107 overlaps withthe target coverage region of the first regionalized server 107. In someembodiments, the coverage region manager 206 may determine the morphingportion for the second coverage region to be the overlap area. Thecoverage region manager 206 may then morph the set of second coverageregions based on their corresponding morphing portions.

FIG. 4A is a flowchart of an example method 400 for morphing thecoverage region of the regionalized server 107. In some embodiments, thecoverage region manager 206 may perform the method 400 to morph the setof second coverage regions if the topology modification of thegeographical area is the creation of the target coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server 107 as the firstregionalized server 107 is newly initiated, or the expansion of thefirst coverage region associated with the first regionalized server 107to the target coverage region of the first regionalized server 107. Insome embodiments, for each second coverage region in the set of secondcoverage regions that is associated with a second regionalized server107 in the set of second regionalized servers 107, in block 402, thecoverage region manager 206 may reduce the second coverage regionassociated with the second regionalized server 107 to exclude themorphing portion corresponding to the second coverage region. Asdiscussed above, the morphing portion of the second coverage region maybe the overlap area between the second coverage region of the secondcoverage region 107 and the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server 107.

In block 404, the coverage region manager 206 may retrieve the dataassociated with the morphing portion of the second coverage region fromthe second regionalized server 107 associated with the second coverageregion and/or the management server 101, and transmit the dataassociated with the morphing portion of the second coverage region tothe first regionalized server 107. In some embodiments, the dataassociated with the morphing portion may include the application data ofthe vehicle applications, the data associated with the vehicle platforms103 located within the morphing portion, and/or other types of data thatis necessary to communicate and provide the vehicle applications to thevehicle platforms 103 located within the morphing portion. In someembodiments, the second regionalized server 107 may continue tocommunicate and provide the vehicle applications to the vehicleplatforms 103 located within the morphing portion during the minortopology update. As the data associated with the morphing portion istransmitted to the first regionalized server 107, the first regionalizedserver 107 may begin to cover the morphing portion. In block 406, thecoverage region manager 206 may instruct the vehicle platforms 103located within the morphing portion to communicate with the firstregionalized server 107, and the first regionalized server 107 mayprovide the vehicle applications to these vehicle platforms 103.

As discussed above, the coverage region manager 206 may rely on thetopology modification of the geographical area to perform the minortopology update. As discussed elsewhere herein, if the topologymodification of the geographical area is the elimination of the firstcoverage region associated with the first regionalized server 107 as thefirst regionalized server 107 is removed, or the reduction of the firstcoverage region associated with the first regionalized server 107 to thetarget coverage region of the first regionalized server 107, the set ofsecond coverage regions may include the second coverage regions that areadjacent to the target coverage region of the first regionalized server107, in which the set of second regionalized servers 107 associated withthe set of second coverage regions may have sufficient resource amountto accommodate 1) the vehicle platforms 103 located within the set ofsecond coverage regions and 2) the vehicle platforms 103 located withinthe difference region. In some embodiments, for these types of topologymodification, the coverage region manager 206 may determine the morphingportion for each second coverage region from the difference regionbetween the first coverage region the first regionalized server 107 andthe target coverage region of the first regionalized server 107.

In some embodiments, to determine the morphing portion for each secondcoverage region in the set of second coverage regions that is associatedwith a second regionalized server 107 in the set of second regionalizedservers 107, the coverage region manager 206 may estimate the number ofvehicles that the second regionalized server 107 can additionallyaccommodate based on the resource amount of the second regionalizedserver 107 (e.g., the available resource amount), and the operationrequirement of the vehicle application (e.g., the amount of variouscomputational resources required to execute an application request). Thecoverage region manager 206 may then determine a portion of thedifference region that the second regionalized server 107 can coverbased on the number of vehicles that the second regionalized server 107can additionally accommodate, and the traffic condition of various roadsegments in the difference region (e.g., the vehicle density, thetraffic flow rate, etc.). The coverage region manager 206 may thendetermine this portion of the difference region to be the morphingportion for the second coverage region associated with the secondregionalized server 107. As an example, the coverage region manager 206may determine that second regionalized server 107 can additionallyaccommodate 1800 vehicles, and the vehicle density of the road segmentsin the difference region is 90 vehicles/km. In this example, thecoverage region manager 206 may determine a portion of the differenceregion that includes the road segments with the length of 20 km to bethe morphing portion for the second coverage region associated with thesecond regionalized server 107.

FIG. 4B is a flowchart of an example method 450 for morphing thecoverage region of the regionalized server 107. In some embodiments, thecoverage region manager 206 may perform the method 450 to morph the setof second coverage regions if the topology modification of thegeographical area is the elimination of the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server 107 as the firstregionalized server 107 is removed, or the reduction of the firstcoverage region associated with the first regionalized server 107 to thetarget coverage region of the first regionalized server 107. In someembodiments, for each second coverage region in the set of secondcoverage regions that is associated with a second regionalized server107 in the set of second regionalized servers 107, in block 452, thecoverage region manager 206 may expand the second coverage regionassociated with the second regionalized server 107 to include themorphing portion corresponding to the second coverage region. Asdiscussed above, the morphing portion of the second coverage region maybe the portion of the difference region between the first coverageregion the first regionalized server 107 and the target coverage regionof the first regionalized server 107 that the second regionalizedservers 107 can cover.

In block 454, the coverage region manager 206 may retrieve the dataassociated with the morphing portion of the second coverage region fromthe first regionalized server 107 and/or the management server 101, andtransmit the data associated with the morphing portion of the secondcoverage region to the second regionalized server 107 associated withthe second coverage region. As discussed elsewhere herein, the dataassociated with the morphing portion may include the application data ofthe vehicle applications, the data associated with the vehicle platforms103 located within the morphing portion, and/or other types of data thatis necessary to communicate and provide the vehicle applications to thevehicle platforms 103 located within the morphing portion. In someembodiments, the first regionalized server 107 and/or the managementserver 101 may continue to communicate and provide the vehicleapplications to the vehicle platforms 103 located within the morphingportion during the minor topology update. As the data associated withthe morphing portion is transmitted to the second regionalized server107, the second regionalized server 107 may begin to cover the morphingportion. In block 456, the coverage region manager 206 may instruct thevehicle platforms 103 located within the morphing portion to communicatewith the second regionalized server 107, and the second regionalizedserver 107 may provide the vehicle applications to these vehicleplatforms 103.

In some embodiments, the coverage region manager 206 may update thecoverage region topology of the geographical area to indicate the targetcoverage region covered by the first regionalized server 107 and the setof second coverage regions covered by the set of second regionalizedservers 107 that are morphed based on the target coverage region. Thecoverage region manager 206 may then transmit the updated coverageregion topology of the geographical area to the regionalized servers 107associated with the coverage regions in the geographical area and thevehicle platforms 103. In some embodiments, the regionalized servers 107and the vehicle platforms 103 may adjust the communication between theregionalized servers 107 and the vehicle platforms 103 based on theupdated coverage region topology of the geographical area. In someembodiments, the regionalized server 107 may reference the updatedcoverage region topology of the geographical area to determine itscoverage region, and communicate and provide the vehicle applications tothe vehicle platforms 103 located within its coverage region. Thecoverage region of the regionalized server 107 may lie within thecommunication range of the regionalized server 107 but have differentshape and/or size. In some embodiments, the vehicle platform 103 mayreference the updated coverage region topology of the geographical areato determine the coverage region within which the vehicle platform 103is located, and communicate with the regionalized server 107 associatedwith this coverage region. If the vehicle platform 103 is not locatedwithin any coverage regions associated with the regionalized servers 107in the geographical area, the vehicle platform 103 may communicate withthe management server 101.

Referring back to FIG. 3, if in block 308, the coverage region manager206 determines that the number of coverage regions included in the setof second coverage regions does not satisfy the region count threshold(e.g., less than 2 coverage regions), the coverage region manager 206may determine that the topology modification that results in the targetcoverage region of the first regionalized server 107 impacts arelatively large number of second coverage regions, and thus thecoverage region manager 206 may perform a major topology update. Toperform the major topology update, the coverage region manager 206 maydetermine a set of existing regionalized servers 107 from the firstregionalized server 107 and the set of second regionalized servers 107.The set of existing regionalized servers 107 may include one or moreregionalized server 107 among the first regionalized server 107 and theset of second regionalized servers 107 that exist prior to the topologymodification of the geographical area. In some embodiments, if thetopology modification of the geographical area is the creation of thetarget coverage region associated with the first regionalized server 107as the first regionalized server 107 is newly initiated, the coverageregion manager 206 may determine the set of existing regionalizedservers 107 to include the set of second regionalized servers 107. Insome embodiments, if the topology modification of the geographical areais the expansion of the first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server 107 to the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server 107, the reduction of the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server 107 to the target coverageregion of the first regionalized server 107, or the elimination of thefirst coverage region associated with the first regionalized server 107as the first regionalized server 107 is removed, the coverage regionmanager 206 may determine the set of existing regionalized servers 107to include the first regionalized server 107 and the set of secondregionalized servers 107.

In block 320, the coverage region manager 206 may determine a set ofthird regionalized servers 107 from the first regionalized server 107and the set of second regionalized servers 107. The set of thirdregionalized servers 107 may include one or more regionalized servers107 among the first regionalized server 107 and the set of secondregionalized servers 107 that exist as a result of the topologymodification. In some embodiments, the coverage region manager 206 maydetermine the set of third regionalized servers 107 based on thetopology modification of the geographical area. In some embodiments, ifthe topology modification of the geographical area is the creation ofthe target coverage region associated with the first regionalized server107 as the first regionalized server 107 is newly initiated, theexpansion of the first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server 107 to the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server 107, or the reduction of the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server 107 to the target coverageregion of the first regionalized server 107, the coverage region manager206 may determine the set of third regionalized servers 107 to includethe first regionalized server 107 and the set of second regionalizedservers 107. In some embodiments, if the topology modification of thegeographical area is the elimination of the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server 107 as the firstregionalized server 107 is removed, the coverage region manager 206 maydetermine the set of third regionalized servers 107 to include the setof second regionalized servers 107.

As an example, FIG. 8A depicts a topology modification from the coverageregion topology 800 to the coverage region topology 802, in which thecoverage region 812 associated with the first regionalized server 107 iscreated as the first regionalized server 107 is newly initiated. In thisexample, the set of existing regionalized servers 107 may include theset of second regionalized servers 107 associated with the coverageregion 804, 806,808, 810, and the set of third regionalized servers 107may include the first regionalized server 107 and the set of secondregionalized servers 107. FIG. 8B depicts a topology modification fromthe coverage region topology 830 to the coverage region topology 832, inwhich the coverage region 842 associated with the first regionalizedserver 107 is expanded to the target coverage region. In this example,the set of existing regionalized servers 107 and the set of thirdregionalized servers 107 may both include the first regionalized server107 associated with the coverage region 842 and the set of secondregionalized servers 107 associated with the coverage region 834, 836,838, 840. FIG. 8C depicts a topology modification from the coverageregion topology 860 to the coverage region topology 862, in which thecoverage region 870 associated with the first regionalized server 107 iseliminated as the first regionalized server 107 is removed. In thisexample, the set of existing regionalized servers 107 may include thefirst regionalized server 107 associated with the coverage region 870and the set of second regionalized servers 107 associated with thecoverage region 868, 866, 868, 872, and the set of third regionalizedservers 107 may include the set of second regionalized servers 107.

In block 322, the coverage region manager 206 may determine a set ofthird coverage regions in the geographical area for the set of thirdregionalized servers 107. In some embodiments, if the set of thirdregionalized servers 107 includes the first regionalized server 107, thecoverage region manager 206 may determine the third coverage region forthe first regionalized server 107 to be the target coverage region ofthe first regionalized server 107. As discussed above, the set of thirdregionalized servers 107 may include the set of second regionalizedservers 107. In some embodiments, the coverage region manager 206 maydetermine the third coverage region for each second regionalized server107 in a manner similar to determining the target coverage region forthe first regionalized server 107 as discussed in details with referenceto block 304 of FIG. 3.

Thus, as discussed in details with reference to block 304 of FIG. 3, thecoverage region manager 206 may determine the third coverage region forthe third regionalized server 107 in the set of third regionalizedservers 107 (e.g., the first regionalized server 107 (if included) andthe second regionalized servers 107) based on the resource amount of thethird regionalized server 107, the operation requirement of the vehicleapplication implemented on the third regionalized server 107, thetraffic condition of the road segments in the third coverage region,etc. For example, the coverage region manager 206 may determine thethird coverage region for the third regionalized server 107 to includethe road segment that has the vehicle density of the road segmentsatisfying the vehicle density threshold, the road segment that thethird regionalized server 107 has sufficient resource amount toaccommodate the vehicle platforms 103 located on the road segment, theroad segment where a vehicle application implemented on the thirdregionalized server 107 is temporarily accessible to the vehicleplatforms 103 located on the road segment, etc. In block 324, thecoverage region manager 206 may respectively assign the set of thirdcoverage regions to the set of third regionalized servers 107.

In some embodiments, as the set of third coverage regions is determinedand respectively assigned to the set of third regionalized servers 107,the coverage region manager 206 may re-establish the coverage regionsassociated with the set of existing regionalized servers 107 to form theset of third coverage regions associated with the set of thirdregionalized servers 107. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example method 500for re-establishing the coverage regions of the regionalized servers107. In block 502, the coverage region manager 206 may classify the setof existing regionalized servers 107 into one or more physicalregionalized servers 107 and one or more virtual regionalized servers107. As discussed above, the set of existing regionalized servers 107may include the set of second regionalized servers 107 and/or the firstregionalized server 107.

In block 504, for each physical regionalized server 107, the coverageregion manager 206 may initiate a temporary virtual regionalized server107 corresponding to the physical regionalized server 107. The temporaryvirtual regionalized server 107 may reside at the management server 101.In block 506, the coverage region manager 206 may transmit the dataassociated with each physical regionalized server 107 to the temporaryvirtual regionalized server 107 corresponding to the physicalregionalized server 107. In some embodiments, the data associated witheach physical regionalized server 107 may include the application dataof the vehicle applications, the data associated with the vehicleplatforms 103 located within the coverage region of the physicalregionalized server 107, and/or other types of data that is necessary tocommunicate and provide the vehicle applications to the vehicleplatforms 103 located within the coverage region of the physicalregionalized server 107. In some embodiments, the coverage regionmanager 206 may also implement on the temporary virtual regionalizedserver 107 the vehicle applications implemented on the corresponding thephysical regionalized server 107.

In some embodiments, during the major topology update, the physicalregionalized server 107 may continue to receive data from the vehicleplatforms 103 located within its coverage region, and relay this data tothe corresponding temporary virtual regionalized server 107. Thus, thetemporary virtual regionalized server 107 may execute applicationrequests and provide the vehicle applications to the vehicle platforms103 located within the coverage region of the physical regionalizedserver 107 during the major topology update. During the major topologyupdate, the virtual regionalized server 107 may also continue to receivedata and provide the vehicle applications to the vehicle platforms 103located within its coverage region. This implementation is advantageousbecause it avoids interrupting the operation of the vehicle applicationsprovided by the set of existing regionalized servers 107 to the vehicleplatforms 103 located within their coverage regions.

In block 508, responsive to respectively assigning the set of thirdcoverage regions to the set of third regionalized servers 107, thecoverage region manager 206 may retrieve the data associated with eachthird coverage region from the virtual regionalized server 107 and/orthe temporary virtual regionalized server 107 corresponding to thephysical regionalized server 107, and transmit the data associated witheach third coverage region to the third regionalized server 107associated with the third coverage region. In some embodiments, the dataassociated with the third coverage region may include the applicationdata of the vehicle applications, the data associated with the vehicleplatforms 103 located within the third coverage region, and/or othertypes of data that is necessary to communicate and provide the vehicleapplications to the vehicle platforms 103 located within the thirdcoverage region. The data associated with each third coverage region maybe retrieved from the virtual regionalized servers 107 and/or thetemporary virtual regionalized servers 107 that covered at least aportion of the third coverage region during the major topology update.

In some embodiments, as the data associated with each third coverageregion is transmitted to the third regionalized server 107 associatedwith the third coverage region, the third regionalized server 107 maybegin to cover the third coverage region. Thus, the coverage regionmanager 206 may instruct the vehicle platforms 103 located within thethird coverage region to communicate with the third regionalized server107, and the third regionalized server 107 may provide the vehicleapplications to these vehicle platforms 103. In block 510, as the dataassociated with the third coverage regions is transmitted to thecorresponding third regionalized server 107, the coverage region manager206 may remove the temporary virtual regionalized servers 107.

In some embodiments, the coverage region manager 206 may update thecoverage region topology of the geographical area to indicate the set ofthird coverage regions associated with the set of third regionalizedservers 107 that replaces the coverage regions associated with the setof existing regionalized servers 107. The coverage region manager 206may then transmit the updated coverage region topology of thegeographical area to the regionalized servers 107 associated with thecoverage regions in the geographical area and the vehicle platforms 103.As discussed elsewhere herein, the regionalized servers 107 and thevehicle platforms 103 may adjust the communication between theregionalized servers 107 and the vehicle platforms 103 based on theupdated coverage region topology of the geographical area. For example,the regionalized servers 107 may reference the updated coverage regiontopology of the geographical area to determine its coverage region, andcommunicate and provide the vehicle applications to the vehicleplatforms 103 located within its coverage region. The vehicle platform103 may reference the updated coverage region topology of thegeographical area to determine the coverage region within which thevehicle platform 103 is located, and communicate with the regionalizedserver 107 associated with this coverage region.

Thus, as a result of the topology modification and the minor topologyupdate or the major topology update, the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server 107 can be flexiblymodified (e.g., created, eliminated, expanded, or reduced) into thetarget coverage region of the first regionalized server 107, and the setof second coverage regions associated with the set of secondregionalized servers 107 that are adjacent to the target coverage regionof the first regionalized server 107 can be morphed or re-establishedaccording to the target coverage region of the first regionalized server107. As the coverage regions of the regionalized servers 107 can bedynamically adjusted or redefined, the regionalized server 107 may havesufficient computational resources to provide vehicle applications tothe vehicle platforms 103 located within its coverage region. Theregionalized server 107 can also collect relevant data from multiplevehicle platforms 103 located within its coverage region, and thus theoperation of the vehicle applications implemented on the regionalizedserver 107 (e.g., the navigation application 122) can be improved. Theregionalized server 107 can also temporarily cover a particular coverageregion in the geographical area to dynamically provide a vehicleapplication to the vehicle platforms 103 located within that coverageregion on a temporary basis.

In the above description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe present disclosure. However, it should be understood that thetechnology described herein could be practiced without these specificdetails. Further, various systems, devices, and structures are shown inblock diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description. Forinstance, various implementations are described as having particularhardware, software, and user interfaces. However, the present disclosureapplies to any type of computing device that can receive data andcommands, and to any peripheral devices providing services.

In some instances, various implementations may be presented herein interms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on databits within a computer memory. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent set of operations leading to a desiredresult. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations ofphysical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantitiestake the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion,it is appreciated that throughout this disclosure, discussions utilizingterms including “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“displaying,” or the like, refer to the action and processes of acomputer system, or similar electronic computing device, thatmanipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic)quantities within the computer system's registers and memories intoother data similarly represented as physical quantities within thecomputer system memories or registers or other such information storage,transmission or display devices.

Various implementations described herein may relate to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by acomputer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may bestored in a computer readable storage medium, including, but is notlimited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CDROMs, and magnetic disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random accessmemories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flashmemories including USB keys with non-volatile memory or any type ofmedia suitable for storing electronic instructions, each coupled to acomputer system bus.

The technology described herein can take the form of an entirelyhardware implementation, an entirely software implementation, orimplementations containing both hardware and software elements. Forinstance, the technology may be implemented in software, which includesbut is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.Furthermore, the technology can take the form of a computer programproduct accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable mediumproviding program code for use by or in connection with a computer orany instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description,a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any non-transitorystorage apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, ortransport the program for use by or in connection with the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing programcode may include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectlyto memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can includelocal memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulkstorage, and cache memories that provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code must beretrieved from bulk storage during execution. Input/output or I/Odevices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointingdevices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or throughintervening I/O controllers.

Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the dataprocessing system to become coupled to other data processing systems,storage devices, remote printers, etc., through intervening privateand/or public networks. Wireless (e.g., Wi-Fi™) transceivers, Ethernetadapters, and modems, are just a few examples of network adapters. Theprivate and public networks may have any number of configurations and/ortopologies. Data may be transmitted between these devices via thenetworks using a variety of different communication protocols including,for example, various Internet layer, transport layer, or applicationlayer protocols. For example, data may be transmitted via the networksusing transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), userdatagram protocol (UDP), transmission control protocol (TCP), hypertexttransfer protocol (HTTP), secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS),dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH), real-time streamingprotocol (RTSP), real-time transport protocol (RTP) and the real-timetransport control protocol (RTCP), voice over Internet protocol (VOIP),file transfer protocol (FTP), WebSocket (WS), wireless access protocol(WAP), various messaging protocols (SMS, MMS, XMS, IMAP, SMTP, POP,WebDAV, etc.), or other known protocols.

Finally, the structure, algorithms, and/or interfaces presented hereinare not inherently related to any particular computer or otherapparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs inaccordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient toconstruct more specialized apparatus to perform the required methodblocks. The required structure for a variety of these systems willappear from the description above. In addition, the specification is notdescribed with reference to any particular programming language. It willbe appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used toimplement the teachings of the specification as described herein.

The foregoing description has been presented for the purposes ofillustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the specification to the precise form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteaching. It is intended that the scope of the disclosure be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by the claims of thisapplication. As will be understood by those familiar with the art, thespecification may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Likewise, theparticular naming and division of the modules, routines, features,attributes, methodologies and other aspects are not mandatory orsignificant, and the mechanisms that implement the specification or itsfeatures may have different names, divisions and/or formats.

Furthermore, the modules, routines, features, attributes, methodologiesand other aspects of the disclosure can be implemented as software,hardware, firmware, or any combination of the foregoing. Also, wherevera component, an example of which is a module, of the specification isimplemented as software, the component can be implemented as astandalone program, as part of a larger program, as a plurality ofseparate programs, as a statically or dynamically linked library, as akernel loadable module, as a device driver, and/or in every and anyother way known now or in the future. Additionally, the disclosure is inno way limited to implementation in any specific programming language,or for any specific operating system or environment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining a topologymodification for a geographical area; determining a set of one or morecoverage regions in the geographical area that are adjacent to a targetcoverage region, the target coverage region being associated with afirst regionalized server configured to communicate with vehiculartraffic in the target coverage region, the set of one or more coverageregions being respectively associated with a set of one or more secondregionalized servers, each second regionalized server of the set of oneor more second regionalized servers being configured to communicate withvehicular traffic in a corresponding coverage region of the set of oneor more coverage regions; determining that a region count of the set ofone or more coverage regions satisfies a region count threshold;responsive to determining that the region count of the set of one ormore coverage regions satisfies the region count threshold, determininga morphing portion for each coverage region in the set of one or morecoverage regions; and morphing the set of one or more coverage regionsassociated with the set of one or more second regionalized servers basedon corresponding morphing portions.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein:the topology modification of the geographical area includes one of acreation of the target coverage region for the first regionalizedserver, the first regionalized server being initiated; and an expansionof a first coverage region associated with the first regionalized serverto the target coverage region; and determining the morphing portion of acoverage region of the set of one or more coverage regions to include anarea where the coverage region associated with a second regionalizedserver overlaps with the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein morphing the setof one or more coverage regions associated with the set of one or moresecond regionalized servers includes: reducing the coverage regionassociated with the second regionalized server to exclude the morphingportion corresponding to the coverage region; transmitting dataassociated with the morphing portion from the second regionalized serverto the first regionalized server; and instructing a plurality ofvehicles located within the morphing portion to communicate with thefirst regionalized server.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: thetopology modification of the geographical area includes one of: anelimination of a first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server, the first regionalized server being removed; and areduction of the first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server to the target coverage region; and determining theset of one or more coverage regions in the geographical area includes:determining a difference region between the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server and the target coverageregion; and determining that a resource amount of the set of one or moresecond regionalized servers satisfies a resource amount to accommodate aplurality of vehicles located within the set of one or more coverageregions associated with the set of one or more second regionalizedservers and the difference region.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereindetermining the morphing portion for each coverage region in the set ofone or more coverage regions includes: determining, from the differenceregion, a morphing portion for a coverage region associated with asecond regionalized server based on a resource amount of the secondregionalized server and a traffic condition in the difference region. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein morphing the set of one or more coverageregions associated with the set of one or more second regionalizedservers includes: expanding the coverage region associated with thesecond regionalized server to include the morphing portion correspondingto the coverage region; transmitting data associated with the morphingportion from the first regionalized server to the second regionalizedserver; and instructing a plurality of vehicles located within themorphing portion to communicate with the second regionalized server. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that the regioncount of the set of one or more coverage regions does not satisfy theregion count threshold; responsive to determining that the region countof the set of one or more coverage regions does not satisfy the regioncount threshold, determining, from the first regionalized server and theset of one or more second regionalized servers, a set of one or morethird regionalized servers based on the topology modification of thegeographical area; determining a set of one or more third coverageregions in the geographical area for the set of one or more thirdregionalized servers; and respectively assigning the set of one or morethird coverage regions to the set of one or more third regionalizedservers.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the set of one ormore third coverage regions in the geographical area includes:determining a third coverage region for a third regionalized serverbased on a resource amount of the third regionalized server and atraffic condition in the third coverage region.
 9. The method of claim7, further comprising: classifying the first regionalized server and theset of one or more second regionalized servers into one or more physicalregionalized servers and one or more virtual regionalized servers;initiating one or more temporary virtual regionalized serverscorresponding to the one or more physical regionalized servers;transmitting data associated with each physical regionalized server to atemporary virtual regionalized server corresponding to the physicalregionalized server; and responsive to respectively assigning the set ofone or more third coverage regions to the set of one or more thirdregionalized servers, transmitting, from the one or more virtualregionalized servers and the one or more temporary virtual regionalizedservers, data associated with each third coverage region to a thirdregionalized server associated with the third coverage region.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: responsive to transmitting thedata associated with each third coverage region to the thirdregionalized server associated with the third coverage region,instructing a plurality of vehicles located within the third coverageregion associated with the third regionalized server to communicate withthe third regionalized server; and removing the one or more temporaryvirtual regionalized servers.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein thetopology modification of the geographical area is associated with atrigger event, the trigger event including one or more of: a change ofroadway condition, a change of traffic condition, and a change oftraffic condition reflected in a traffic pattern of a road segment inthe geographical area; an implementation of a vehicle application thatis temporarily accessible in an application accessible area within thegeographical area; and an unavailability of a regionalized serverassociated with a coverage region in the geographical area.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein determining the topology modification for thegeographical area includes: determining a road segment in thegeographical area that has a vehicle density of the road segmentsatisfying a vehicle density threshold; and determining the targetcoverage region for the first regionalized server based on the roadsegment.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the topologymodification for the geographical area includes: determining anapplication accessible area for a vehicle application temporarilyimplemented on the first regionalized server; and determining the targetcoverage region for the first regionalized server based on theapplication accessible area of the vehicle application.
 14. The methodof claim 1, wherein determining the topology modification for thegeographical area includes: estimating a number of vehicles that areaccommodatable by the first regionalized server based on a resourceamount of the first regionalized server and operation requirements of avehicle application; determining a vehicle density of a road segmentthat includes a first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server; and determining the target coverage region for thefirst regionalized server based on the number of vehicles that areaccommodatable by the first regionalized server and the vehicle densityof the road segment.
 15. A system comprising: one or more processors;and one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by theone or more processors, cause the system to: determine a topologymodification for a geographical area; determine a set of one or morecoverage regions in the geographical area that are adjacent to a targetcoverage region, the target coverage region being associated with afirst regionalized server configured to communicate with vehiculartraffic in the target coverage region, the set of one or more coverageregions being respectively associated with a set of one or more secondregionalized servers, each second regionalized server of the set of oneor more second regionalized servers being configured to communicate withvehicular traffic in a corresponding coverage region of the set of oneor more coverage regions; determine that a region count of the set ofone or more coverage regions satisfies a region count threshold;responsive to determining that the region count of the set of one ormore coverage regions satisfies the region count threshold, determine amorphing portion for each coverage region in the set of one or morecoverage regions; and morph the set of one or more coverage regionsassociated with the set of one or more second regionalized servers basedon corresponding morphing portions.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein:the topology modification of the geographical area includes one of: acreation of the target coverage region for the first regionalizedserver, the first regionalized server being initiated; and an expansionof a first coverage region associated with the first regionalized serverto the target coverage region; and determining the morphing portion of acoverage region of the set of one or more coverage regions to include anarea where the coverage region associated with a second regionalizedserver overlaps with the target coverage region of the firstregionalized server.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein to morph theset of one or more coverage regions associated with the set of one ormore second regionalized servers includes: reducing the coverage regionassociated with the second regionalized server to exclude the morphingportion corresponding to the coverage region; transmitting dataassociated with the morphing portion from the second regionalized serverto the first regionalized server; and instructing a plurality ofvehicles located within the morphing portion to communicate with thefirst regionalized server.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein: thetopology modification of the geographical area includes one of: anelimination of a first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server, the first regionalized server being removed; and areduction of the first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server to the target coverage region; and determining theset of one or more coverage regions in the geographical area includes:determining a difference region between the first coverage regionassociated with the first regionalized server and the target coverageregion; and determining that a resource amount of the set of one or moresecond regionalized servers satisfies a resource amount to accommodate aplurality of vehicles located within the set of one or more coverageregions associated with the set of one or more second regionalizedservers and the difference region.
 19. The system of claim 18, whereinto determine the morphing portion for each coverage region in the set ofone or more coverage regions includes: determining, from the differenceregion, a morphing portion for a coverage region associated with asecond regionalized server based on a resource amount of the secondregionalized server and a traffic condition in the difference region.20. The system of claim 19, wherein to morph the set of one or morecoverage regions associated with the set of one or more secondregionalized servers includes: expanding the coverage region associatedwith the second regionalized server to include the morphing portioncorresponding to the coverage region; transmitting data associated withthe morphing portion from the first regionalized server to the secondregionalized server; and instructing a plurality of vehicles locatedwithin the morphing portion to communicate with the second regionalizedserver.
 21. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:determine that the region count of the set of one or more coverageregions does not satisfy the region count threshold; responsive todetermining that the region count of the set of one or more coverageregions does not satisfy the region count threshold, determine, from thefirst regionalized server and the set of one or more second regionalizedservers, a set of one or more third regionalized servers based on thetopology modification of the geographical area; determine a set of oneor more third coverage regions in the geographical area for the set ofone or more third regionalized servers; and respectively assign the setof one or more third coverage regions to the set of one or more thirdregionalized servers.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein to determinethe set of one or more third coverage regions in the geographical areaincludes: determining a third coverage region for a third regionalizedserver based on a resource amount of the third regionalized server and atraffic condition in the third coverage region.
 23. The system of claim21, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, further cause the system to: classify the first regionalizedserver and the set of one or more second regionalized servers into oneor more physical regionalized servers and one or more virtualregionalized servers; initiate one or more temporary virtualregionalized servers corresponding to the one or more physicalregionalized servers; transmit data associated with each physicalregionalized server to a temporary virtual regionalized servercorresponding to the physical regionalized server; and responsive torespectively assigning the set of one or more third coverage regions tothe set of one or more third regionalized servers, transmit, from theone or more virtual regionalized servers and the one or more temporaryvirtual regionalized servers, data associated with each third coverageregion to a third regionalized server associated with the third coverageregion.
 24. The system of claim 23, wherein the instructions, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:responsive to transmitting the data associated with each third coverageregion to the third regionalized server associated with the thirdcoverage region, instruct a plurality of vehicles located within thethird coverage region associated with the third regionalized server tocommunicate with the third regionalized server; and remove the one ormore temporary virtual regionalized servers.
 25. The system of claim 15,wherein the topology modification of the geographical area is associatedwith a trigger event, the trigger event including one or more of: achange of roadway condition, a change of traffic condition, and a changeof traffic condition reflected in a traffic pattern of a road segment inthe geographical area; an implementation of a vehicle application thatis temporarily accessible in an application accessible area within thegeographical area; and an unavailability of a regionalized serverassociated with a coverage region in the geographical area.
 26. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein to determine the topology modification forthe geographical area includes: determining a road segment in thegeographical area that has a vehicle density of the road segmentsatisfying a vehicle density threshold; and determining the targetcoverage region for the first regionalized server based on the roadsegment.
 27. The system of claim 15, wherein to determine the topologymodification for the geographical area includes: determining anapplication accessible area for a vehicle application temporarilyimplemented on the first regionalized server; and determining the targetcoverage region for the first regionalized server based on theapplication accessible area of the vehicle application.
 28. The systemof claim 15, wherein to determine the topology modification for thegeographical area includes: estimating a number of vehicles that areaccommodatable by the first regionalized server based on a resourceamount of the first regionalized server and operation requirements of avehicle application; determining a vehicle density of a road segmentthat includes a first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server; and determining the target coverage region for thefirst regionalized server based on the number of vehicles that areaccommodatable by the first regionalized server and the vehicle densityof the road segment.
 29. A method comprising: detecting a traffictrigger event associated with a geographical area, the geographical areaincluding a set of one or more coverage regions that are respectivelyassociated with a set of one or more regionalized servers; determining atopology modification for the geographical area based on a trafficcondition associated with the traffic trigger event; and modifying acoverage region topology of the geographical area based on the topologymodification by one or more of: creating an additional coverage regionfor the geographical area and associating the additional coverage regionwith an additional regionalized server; and morphing one or morecoverage regions in the set of one or more coverage regions.
 30. Themethod of claim 29, wherein: the traffic trigger event includes one ormore of a change of roadway condition, a change of traffic condition,and a change of traffic condition reflected in a traffic pattern of aroad segment in the geographical area; and the traffic conditionassociated with the traffic trigger event includes one or more of avehicle density, a traffic flow rate, an average vehicle speed, and anaverage following distance associated with the road segment.
 31. Themethod of claim 29, wherein: determining the topology modification forthe geographical area includes determining a target coverage region inthe geographical area for a first regionalized server based on thetraffic condition associated with the traffic trigger event; andmodifying the coverage region topology of the geographical area based onthe topology modification includes modifying the coverage regiontopology by one or more of: creating the target coverage region in thegeographical area and associating the target coverage region with thefirst regionalized server, the first regionalized server beinginitiated; morphing a first coverage region associated with the firstregionalized server into the target coverage region; and eliminating thefirst coverage region associated with the first regionalized server, thefirst regionalized server being removed.
 32. The method of claim 31,further comprising: determining, from the set of one or more coverageregions associated with the set of one or more regionalized servers, aset of one or more second coverage regions that are adjacent to thetarget coverage region of the first regionalized server, the set of oneor more second coverage regions being respectively associated with a setof one or more second regionalized servers; and morphing the set of oneor more second coverage regions associated with the set of one or moresecond regionalized servers based on the target coverage region of thefirst regionalized server.
 33. The method of claim 31, whereindetermining the target coverage region in the geographical area for thefirst regionalized server based on the traffic condition associated withthe traffic trigger event includes one or more of: determining thetarget coverage region for the first regionalized server based on a roadsegment in the geographical area that has a vehicle density of the roadsegment satisfying a vehicle density threshold; and determining thetarget coverage region for the first regionalized server based on anumber of vehicles that are accommodatable by the first regionalizedserver and a vehicle density of a road segment that includes the firstcoverage region associated with the first regionalized server.